


Star Wars Resistance: Dying Light

by LBA_E_Ross



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Legends - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Star Wars Setting, First Order Politics (Star Wars), Post-Star Wars: Return of the Jedi, Pre-Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Resistance, Star Wars References
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-26
Updated: 2019-09-15
Packaged: 2020-10-02 18:03:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 6
Words: 27,767
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20401396
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LBA_E_Ross/pseuds/LBA_E_Ross
Summary: I originally posted this story on FanFiction.net so you can find this over there as well.This is an alternate ST timeline set during the years before the outbreak of the First Order-Resistance War. Akina Kracksen, the daughter of an X-Wing pilot is trying to live up to her father's legacy. But soon finds herself fighting the remnants of a war she thought ended a long time ago. This story will use my own and EU material, rewriting the arguably terrible timeline made by Disney. So that's what I decided to try and write. Taking elements of the ST movies they squandered or dropped and trying to do them better. Eventually, I will try to tweak the first chapters now that my writing has improved and try to develop things a bit more. But as for you readers, I hope to hear your comments and thoughts.





	1. Chapter 1

A long time ago in a galaxy far far away...

STAR WARS Resistance: Dying Light

It is a tense time for the New Republic. Bureaucracy reigns, miring the Senate in endless debate. Systems lack strong leadership as the Senate squabbles for political influence. The Outer rim and the Galaxy at large stands defenseless after the military disarmament of the Galactic civil war.

The cries of the Outer rim and other undefended systems go unheard in the senate. As politicians negotiate routes and treaties, a new threat rises. From the Unknown Regions, the battered remnants of the Empire have coalesced into the First Order.

Leia Organa has left the senate after warning of evil lurking within the New Republic, creating dissonance among its people. Together with Admiral Ackbar, Leia has formed a paramilitary group, known as “The Resistance”, self-funded with what little aid she has in an effort to determine the First Order’s intentions before the darkness of war begins to spread again across the galaxy…

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Just a few more keystrokes and Akina Kracksn would be in the pipeline to be a fighter pilot. If the application passed through, and all went well, she’d be heading right to Gelstar, the most important security force in this tiny corner of the Outer Rim, founded by her father of all people...

Akina had dreamed of this day for years, growing up she’d known all the of vets, including a few of her dad’s old friends, so it wasn’t like she needed to worry about competition. She looked down at the small X-wing model on her desk and smiled. Her mother had pressured her to focus on her studies, believing without them Akina wouldn't get anywhere in the world. Sure, she was working at the spaceport now, but it was all going to pay off. Pretty soon, she’d be up in space flying with the rest of the Gelstar pilots. There was hardly enough commerce or hyperspace traffic passing through Gelda these days anyway, even with the harvest season in full swing.

“Akina!”

She jumped in her seat, tapping the keys on her workstation to swap to her spacedock log entries. Once she had the work she should have been doing in front of her, she turned toward the door.

Ailyn Kracksn was a proud woman. At least, she had been, and that’s what the family on her side had always told her about her mother. Even her father had been sure to mention her self-assuredness when he wrote about her in his journal. Now she always looked tired, like she’d been worn thin every day. She still retained that sharp port master’s gaze though, and it made Akina wither in her terminal chair.

“That better not have been what I think it was. I’ve told you that you’ll find a better job if you keep looking!”

“I’m almost done with the log entries, mom,” she said, turning back to the screen as she slouched. With a few keystrokes, she transferred her spaceport log reports to her datapad and grabbed it off her desk.

“You need to take your job seriously. The last customs inspector went out of his way to let me know you weren’t paying attention when on duty,” her mother said, crossing her arms and furrowing her brows.

“Yeah, I got it. I’m trying my best, Mom,” she said. She snatched her bag up and slung it over her shoulder. “I’m gonna be late. I’ll catch you at the Vet’s Parade.”

“We’re going to talk about that application when you get back. Understand me?”

“Yeah, okay, Mom!” She nudged past her mother and headed for the front door, turning the handle. She called over her shoulder as she ran out into the street. 

“See you tonight!”

“That girl..” Ailyn sighed and looked down at the letter that had just come in the mail.  
\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The city of Lar’anes was the busiest spaceport on Gelda. With the harvest year in full swing, countless tourists and traders had descended on the city, eager for the Sun Festival. The streets were already packed with vendors and shoppers as Akina shuffled her way through the hordes of people, navigating the crowds and headed for the spaceport. She and her mother were in charge of the passenger shuttles that traveled in from the Relgim Run hyperlane. Under normal circumstances, most ships passed Gelda by on the way to Ord Thoden, but the excitement of the Sun Festival, as well as the crisp tartness of Geldan Sun apples, were enough to pull those tourists in. 

This harvest would also have a new celebration, one that the planetary council had announced only last month: the Vets Final Flight celebration. Posters advertising it peppered the buildings along the street, eliciting a smile from her as she walked to work. That wasn’t what had her excited, though. The real show --and what Akina looked forward to the most-- was the Gelstar airshow. Getting to see X-wings and some old Headhunters flying in formation, wingtip-to-wingtip, before peeling off into barrel rolls and inverted twists was a prospect too good for the aspiring pilot to miss out on. They were billed as death-defying spectacles, aerial challenges that would test the aging T-65 and T-70 model X-wings the security forces tended to use, and while she knew the pilots flying weren’t that reckless, she enjoyed it all the same.

She stopped at a door just inside the spaceport archway and punched in her code before entering the office. She clocked in after changing into her customs uniform, then went into her booth. Keying on her terminal, she settled into work. 

This was hardly a dream job. As much as her mother liked to remind her that it was good, honest work and that it was the cornerstone for her future, it was drab, soulless. She did her job, of course, she never was the kind to slack off just because she didn’t like the work. If she had to do it, she’d do it right and on time. This wasn’t stunt flying for the crowds, it didn’t exactly require much in terms of concentration or effort, might as well do a good job. She did her duty for the two hours she was scheduled, logging in people coming and going, selling tickets, and handing out tourist information, but the air show--and her application--was what she was really thinking about. “Thank you and enjoy your stay.” She put on a smile to the last tourist in her line before turning to the other worker at the desk next to her. “Alright, that’s my last one. I’m heading on break Arve.” The older man nodded then turned to her. “One more thing. I’ll be heading out early today so you’ll get the booth to yourself for the last hour.” Akina smiled as the door opened. “You heading out with your wife for the festival?”

“Yep. We’ll be in the veterans march before the airshow. I’m being let out early. Back into my old Judicial uniform, down the street with the march, then off to the airshow. I’ll see you later.” He turned back to the booth window, diligently taking care of the next visitor in line.

“Later Arve!” She waved as the door closed. Arve had served in the Judicial Forces during the time of the Empire. While it saw less activity than the Imperial Navy, he still had an eventful career as a patrol ship captain, keeping the peace while the rest of the galaxy was changing around him. She took off her jacket before she snuck out to the spaceport roof gardens. Once she was settled, she pulled out her journal and wrote as the ships came in and lifted off from the landing pits. In the distance, she saw a few of the Gelstar’s vintage V-wings coming down from orbit and fly over to their private landing field, just out of view behind the nearby buildings. 

Ever since she found her father’s war journal, Akina's eyes were constantly fixated on the stars. She leaned back and took a moment to reflect. Her mother was out of the house a lot as she was out working. At home with little to do and only a limited holonet service, she’d begun reading books. One time, as she was cleaning her mothers' room, she’d found a box in the closet with her father’s old war stuff. Along with his flight suit and some medals was his journal. He’d written it just after he joined the Rebel Alliance, after Endor, and up until the end of the war. Through her father’s stories, she glimpsed the struggles of the galaxy, read about worlds she’d never seen, and perhaps most importantly she got to know the hopes and dreams of the man she’d never get to meet. 

His stories made her want to be a pilot. Her mother told her scant details when she asked, and she sometimes refused to speak about it at all. The box eventually disappeared from the house, but Akina kept the journal. She looked down at it in her hands now, then placed it back in her pack as she started eating her lunch. With a huff, Akina went downstairs again to finish her shift. 

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ailyn turned her head at the sound of the door opening. “Welcome home sweetie. How was work?” Akina walked in and dropped her pack at the side of her chair, before walking into the kitchen and spotting a batch of apple sticks on the table.

“Pretty busy. Lots of people asking about the festival and when everything was going to kick off. What are these for?”

“The food booth, remember? A few of my staff decided to bring over some samples that they’ll be serving tonight. Go ahead and have some.” Akina took one in her hand and started munching on it as she made her way towards her room upstairs. 

“Now,” Ailyn said as she turned in from the living room, leaning against the stairs, “Let's talk about that resume.” 

Akina bit her apple stick and followed her mother into the living room. She sat down on the old orange couch while Ailyn sat on the newer chair. “So, you want to join Gelstar to become a pilot? Whatever happened to you going to work on Mr. Rangies’ freighter? You were really excited when he gave you the offer. It was good pay, runs from here to Biitu, and all you had to do was help with loading and unloading. You could have been on your first off-world trip and making much more money. Instead, you’ve been completing your application to Gelstar.”

“I don't want to be just a freighter hand mom!” replied Akina. “I want to do something more exciting! See more places and actually make a difference for people!”

“You could be doing that by joining up with one of the merchant fleets,” Her mother retorted. “With the New Republic capital moved again it’s created a lot more opportunity. You might even land a job in the Baobab merchant fleet if you put yourself to it.”

“But I don’t want to be a merchant! I want to be a pilot.” Akina argued. “I know I could pilot a freighter but I don't want that! I want to fly something cool, not a cargo hauler! And I’ll still make plenty of credits flying escort for these same convoys. Is this what you wanted to talk about?”

Ailyn sighed. “It was. Because I was hoping you had something else in mind other than Gelstar. You seem too adamant that this will work out.”

“I’ve put so much effort in. It has to.” Akina paused, then corrected herself with renewed resolve. “No, it will work out. I know it. I’m going to get ready for the festival. Are the kimonos still in the same drawer?”

“Yes. I’ll be wearing the midnight floral one,” Ailyn replied, “When will you be back tonight?”

Akina had already disappeared up the stairs. She had to get ready for the festival, and she was tired of arguing with her mother about it. She’d made up her mind. She was going to be a fighter pilot, even if she had to move the whole damn planet to make it happen.


	2. Chapter 2

Adjusting her kimono at the waist again, Akina walked back into the crowd. The festival was just starting, and all of the tourists were now flocking to the streets to take in the sights. The normal city lights were switched off in the evening, allowing the streets to be illuminated by the traditional orange lanterns. Banners waved overhead in the wind, carrying the smells of meats and sweets. Akina turned left into the market district, where all of the usual stalls had been cleared out in favor of festival games.

Glancing around for anything fun, Akina looked around the game stands. She knew most of them were probably rigged, but decided to have a go of them anyway, and picked an easy one that wouldn't eat up all her credits. Paying the operator she weighed her options for the disk drop game and picked up three disks. Depending on how many points, where the disks landed at the bottom, she could pick a prize from that row. Gritting her teeth in thought she chose the right side to start. It pinged down in the three-point slot on the bottom far right. Trying her luck again, she picked a spot closer to the center and got a five dead center. Akina eyed the prize rack while holding her last disk. There were lots of plushies and some toy vibroblades with the really big stuff being just within her reach. Trying her luck on the left again it was going right for the center then narrowly fell in the middle two-pointer. She picked a small white and purple Rasp plushie and put it in her handbag.

Akina walked back down to the main road, she quietly stood and waited with the crowds for the parade to start. As the music started and they came down the street, Akina could see a few familiar faces in the parade. Arve and some of his buddies marched under the banner of the Judicial forces, followed by a patrol craft with one of his grandchildren who had joined up waving and throwing sweets to the younger kids. Next came some old Clone Wars veterans with uniforms vaguely similar to Imperial ones. Then came the cool stuff. Some of the local police rode through on C-PH patrol speeders and revved their repulsor lifts for the crowd. The biggest cheers from the crowd came for the two functioning AT-PT walkers that strode down the street with a police speeder escort following behind them, with some police and rebel militiamen wearing clone armor waving to the crowd. The last of the Veterans were the Galactic Civil war vets and following behind them was a Chariot Light Assault Vehicle with the Gelstar logo on the side.

The festival floats followed right behind them. A Holo-projector lit up on the first float, and the familiar image of Xina Lift formed in the air. Xina was a HoloNet performer and Gliz musician unknown to the larger Galaxy, but very famous on a local level. Akina was never a fan of her though.

"Hello, Ladies and Gentlemen! And welcome again to the annual Gelda Sun Festival! Thank you for coming to all of the locals and of course all of our guests from off-world!"

Akina rolled her eyes, Xina's familiar over the top persona grating on her slightly.

The crowd looked up at the sky above as projections and music filled the street as the floats continue by. Some floats were the yearly festival ones, depicting the planet's history, but a few with the new veterans events made huge new illuminated paper floats, based around historical conflicts and figures. One float was of the Battle over Yavin with a giant Death Star, Another showed the rebel Jedi hero Luke Skywalker leading republic troops into battle, next came to a float depicting the Stark Hyperspace war with Jedi charging an army of pirates, then after that was one depicting the Clone Wars with a battle droid arm wrestling a clone, another showed the 'hero with no fear' Anakin Skywalker toppling a separatist leader. The history books said that the two heroes were related which was amazing, to think both of them freed the galaxy from tyranny. The floats continued down the street before the temple procession passed by and the man atop approached a gong and rang it. The harvest festivities had begun.

As the crowds dispersed, Akina walked down the sidewalks into the central park, passing dozens of food vendors. The park was packed with tourists sampling the food, and Akina ducked past many tourist trap booths packed with ludicrously expensive prices. She passed the spaceport booth, and two co-workers recognized her and waved. Looking for a bite to eat, she found her way to a kebab stand, manned by Darsha, a friend of her mother's who recognized her and gave her a rather generous discount. With two hot kebabs in hand, she picked up her pace through the growing crowd and headed into Nexka Park. Numerous stands had been set up for the event, and she looked to find a good spot for the airshow.

It took a bit of walking, but Akina managed to reach the hill overlooking the park. She leaned against the railing and the murmurs of the crowd below and behind her were silenced as three X-Wings flew in from over the horizon.

This was it, the Gelstar Airshow, the whole reason she came here in the first place, was finally beginning.

Akina watched with amazement as the engine sound cut through the air and fireworks streaked behind them. A group of four Headhunters followed right behind in tight formation trailing smoke overhead. They pulled up, sharply turned back further, and nosedived right back down in a tight loop before another barrage of fireworks launched off and the smoke trails ignited as they broke off into separate directions. The sky went red with the symbol of the New Republic, and three V-Wings shot straight through the fading emblem. The crowd roared in thunderous cheering and Akina laughed in a big stupid grin. No matter how many times she saw a starfighter for real, it never failed to put a smile on her face.

Her eyes went back up to the X-Wings, which shot back over the hill and started flying in circles over the park. The V-Wings came right back and shot over the park, twisting into barrel rolls, trailing smoke and then leveling off. The V-Wings then joined formation with the Headhunters and broke off as they flew into the center and all of the fighters shot straight up before another fireworks volley illuminated their trails, and a huge umbrella lit up, the X-Wing's spirals spun closer and closer together, their trails lighting up behind them, before they spiraled up and outward and shot fireworks out from their torpedo tubes. The sky was filled with brilliance, and the black night sky exploded into a myriad of colors. All of the fighters formed up and shot over the park, X-wings in the lead, Head Hunters in the center, and the V-Wings on the tips and tail as they soared over with the roar of a dragon from their engines and another volley of fireworks exploded behind them as the crowd applauded.

"Whoo whoooo hoo! Yeah!" Akina cheered as they flew overhead. One final firework volley ignited overhead and the Gelstar logo was projected into the night sky. She waved in excitement as they zoomed past the cheering crowds and flew back towards the spaceport. Her eyes lingered on them as they went, before giving a confident smile up at the logo and heading down the hill.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Akina thanked the booth workers for the food and was relieved that her mom had gone back to the office for more work. The worst part of last year's festival was when her mother insisted on introducing her every single person she knew from work. Akina sighed, munching on her Apple stick and walking through the park. On the other side of the hill, across the small river running through the park, they had set up a stage for the Vets Final Flight celebration, an event for them to talk about their service. As she walked over she caught glimpses of an old lady talking about her husband, but she stepped down from the stage just as Akina arrived. Akina sat down at the left edge of the crowd as the next person came on stage. Surprisingly enough it was Arve in his old blue Judicial forces uniform. Helping him on stage was the chief of Gelstar, Jarak Stonn.

They both sat down, cam droids buzzing around them like flies as they floated around the stage. The speaker system ensured their voices could be heard even a significant distance away.

"So Arve," Jarak began. "Would you like to start?"

"I'd be happy to. So, my name is Arve Hoss, and I served in the Judicial Forces as a patrol ship captain. I joined a few years after the Clone Wars, and I was in service for twenty-five years, all the way through into the Empire, and I stayed until the establishment of the New Republic. I was born in the Outer Rim and, at the time there wasn't much chance of someone like me making it far in the Imperial Navy. I took a year of training at a Judicial Facility then got a few months in a Navy school, but that was only reading regulations and learning how to interact with the military when we inevitable started crossing paths."

Arve took a breath. "For the most part, I served on a lot of small ships. I started out on a Lancer, and then I moved to an old Rendilli Dreadnaught. It was a refit of the older model used during the Clone War, they were already being phased out by Venators and Victory Star Destroyers by the time of the Clone Wars and handed down to the Judicial Fleet if you've heard the old ghost stories about the Dark Force those were Dreadnaughts. Anyways, then I moved to a Carrack light cruiser which I eventually ended up captaining. Probably the biggest ship I ever saw was an Imperial Star Destroyer. We were playing patrol for a pirate group that had been raiding shipping near Lantillies and we got called away, this was early in my career when I was a second weapons officer on the Dreadnaught Peacemaker. A lot of Imperial ships were being moved around and we were told to take the positions of the Navy over the planet while they were busy with an operation. I was on the bridge when we dropped out of hyperspace as the Imperial fleet was pulling out. It was this huge beast of a ship. I got a pretty good look at it before it made the jump to lightspeed. That's one of the few sights I won't forget."

"I've had a few memorable close calls with them myself," Jarak added. "As I've said earlier, I was an X-Wing pilot in the Rebel Alliance and then the New Republic. We saw a lot of ISD's in those last few years. It was hard enough with just the TIE's."

"Yes, your lot did like to cause trouble." Arve smiled. "The Navy channels were always buzzing about the Rebel Alliance. While my biggest problems were traffic violations, smugglers, the occasional gangster warship, and making sure we made our quotas."

"Eventually I was promoted to Captain after an arms shipment gone wrong between some pirates and the Zann Consortium, I was offered command of the Equity, the Carrack I mentioned. She was my ship for fifteen years. When it came time to retire the Judicial department was getting new ships, leftovers from the New Republic's disarmament that were being spread around." Arve shook his head. "While I still think it was a bad idea to disarm to such a scale, it was because of it that I was offered to keep the Equity. I still paid for it, but it sure was worth it getting to keep the old girl."

"And I'm glad you did," Jarak said. "You really saved my life with that close maneuver you pulled that day." He looked out at the crowd. "So! How many of you know why there is a Veterans Final Flight celebration?" There were a few murmurs in the crowd and a lot of shaking heads from the tourists. "Alright, I'll tell you. About twenty years ago there was a raid here on Gelda. I was a friend of the boss of Gelstar back during the war. He called me up and I started out by flying patrols. Next thing I know I'm vice chief for Gelstar, though we were still a small security force back then. So one day, we started receiving a bunch of calls from the police on the night side of the planet. All very erratic at first, and then all of a sudden the whole planet went to alarm."

He straightened in his chair. "The first patrol group I sent over to help was some Z-95 Headhunters, they were called Razorback Squadron, they reported back saying the city of Arzem was under attack. The whole thing was in flames and we were fighting off TIE fighters and a few landing craft that was attacking the warehouses. The police were overwhelmed and there were reports of Stormtroopers in the streets."

"Probably some Remnant mercenaries," Arve added. "There were reports that some of the Imperial troopers were going rogue at the end of the war, selling their training for credits without an Emperor to fight for."

"So, once we realized how big this was getting we sent off all the ships we could. Which wasn't much. Our X-Wings were the older T-65s, but we did have one squadron of the newer T-70s. Actually, now that I think about it, some of the V-Wings that you saw here tonight were captured from a pirate base, and we also got some T-wings, but they weren't very reliable…"

"And now you know why the Rebellion rejected them back in the day," Jarak added with a chuckle.

"Right, anyway, we had four Corellian Corvettes at the time, and we sent two of them to help deal with the fighters over the city, but as our ships started to take off and we sent off a planetary distress call, the long-range communications were jammed. We got the military Com-Scan running and tried looking for the source of the jamming, we picked up a ship that was hiding near the moon, then another, and another. Then we found ourselves hopelessly outgunned."

The crowd quietly murmured around Akina but continued to watch the men talk on stage.

"The Comm Scan had made out five ships," Jarak continued. "A Quasar carrier, a Ton-Falk-class escort carrier, two Lancer frigates, and the big beast was a Strike-class medium cruiser. The pilots told us they could see shuttles heading toward the escort carrier, then no sooner than we had been told what they were up against, they started trying to jam us as well. At this point the whole planet was in crisis, they were trying to scramble rescue ships and put together a militia to go to the other planet and help repel these raiders. Meanwhile, my boss, Kenth Kracksn, was trying to coordinate everyone he could and scrounge up more fighters to help out."

Akina sat up at the mention of the name with a renewed interest. All of a sudden, the addition of her father had made the story significantly more interesting…

"With how desperate this was getting I grabbed my best pilots and we rushed to the T-70s to join the fight. It got really tight up there. Those raiders had almost seventy fighters to our thirty fighters, luckily they were using old TIE Fighters and my instincts from back in the war kicked in. Our ships sliced through those unshielded flying death traps but when the Lancers moved in we found ourselves spread out. The T-70s were able to handle them but the Headhunters were having a tough time evading the TIEs that snuck behind them. So I ordered the corvettes to stick with our Headhunters as they tried to flank the carriers. Then tried to have our T-Wings rush the Lancers and draw them off while our X-Wings tried to take out their engines with proton torpedos. We did some real damage, but that's when they launched another wave of fighters from the escort carrier, along with some concussion missiles. The corvettes tried to screen us as best they could but when the Strike cruiser started moving directly into the battle zone, I wasn't sure we were going to make it, especially after it launched another squadron launched as we were trying to make a run on the Quasar. We pulled back from it as its point defense guns opened up. Then I got a squint on my tail- sorry, that's a nickname we used to use for TIE Interceptors, and I tried my best to shake it. But then another missile barrage fired from the escort carrier and my squadron scattered. The Interceptor broke off as I had a missile on my tail. It was close! But just as it closed in for the kill I got a call from Kenth and he said to come about and I did. Then a barrage of laser fire took that missile of my tail thanks to Arve here! He and several old dogs got out their own ships and came up to help."

There were some claps in the audience and a couple of cheers. To Akina it looked like Arve was blushing from the attention of being the hero. Then Jarak continued the story.

"Let's see. Along with the Equity, Kenth had come up with another two squads of X-Wings including his own, and with the other two corvettes they had and an impounded Interceptor IV Frigate manned with a skeleton crew, we'd taken it from the same pirates as the V-Wings. From there it was almost an even match. Razorback Squadron said they had just scared off the last of the ground forces and their shuttles were making a beeline back towards carriers. I told an X-Wing and a V-Wing group to try and catch them. That gave them just enough of an opening and the raiders dropped two squadrons of TIE Bombers took off for the planet with a fighter escort. Razorback Squadron said they'd handle it and we focused on trying to drive off the warships."

"The shuttles had jumped to lightspeed if I remember right," Arve added.

"Yes, they did. We were just too busy trying to deal with that Strike cruiser. It had the most guns out of the other ships and combined with those Lancer's quad laser guns our fighters were just being harried. Even our X-Wing proton torpedoes were not putting on much damage to the cruiser. Meanwhile, our corvettes were just being hammered with Ion fire while the Headhunters did their best to cover them from the TIE fighters. Kenth then radioed me up and said that he was going to provoke the escort carrier to launch another missile barrage. He wanted us to cover him so we formed up behind his T-65 and pelted the shell-shaped ship. Then once it fired its missiles he let them lock on, and lead them to the Strike cruisers bridge and then he fired his proton torpedos. Then he pulled up and over and dodged the ship just in time to avoid hitting it. After he pulled away from the run an Interceptor came right for him and I was just able to hit its stabilizer to make it careen away from hitting him."

Akina let out a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding, then focused back on Jarak.

"At this point, the Lancers pulled back to cover the smoking ship, and we regrouped as well to form up and push the attack again. Just then I looked at my console as it picked up three more ships entering the system. Our distress call had gone through because we were hailed by the Mark I Assault Frigate Upholder. When we were sure they were on our side I told them to Form Up and join us. We were going back in! I think the raiders knew they didn't have a chance because they started pulling away right as we came at them. They all managed to jump away and the Upholder offered to stick around while we went back down to the planet. There was a lot of trouble on the ground. The TIE Bombers that got through had firebombed the city. There were several casualties, injured, and missing people. Lots of unidentifiable bodies as well from all over the city. It took over a month to put it all out…"

He went silent for a bit. "But we lost a lot of good men that day. Kenth included..."

Akina frowned, her heart sinking.

"He'd gotten hit and some shrapnel shot into his chest. He was running on adrenaline till he came back to the landing pad. We rushed him to the hospital but he lost too much blood from a punctured artery. Ever since he died I've done my best to keep the company alive in his name and I thought today would be a good way for his story and all our stories would be able to come out to everyone who only heard second hand, and so our guests could carry their stories with them." The crowd nodded and murmured in agreement. Akina, on the other hand, just stared silently at the ground.

"He was a good friend…" Jarak added.

"And I still miss him."

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Akina went back over the story in her head as she walked down the sidewalk. Imagining her father, going through all that, and failing to make it home, it felt wrong somehow. She looked up from her thoughts at all the families out tonight. Going out together, having fun together, being a real family. Akina loved her mother and her relatives, but she felt like she was missing something from her life. Hearing more about her father and reading about him she really felt her heart sink. What might he have taught her? What might they have done together? What would he think of her? All these questions rushed through her head.

"Why did I have to spoil my good day be feeling so bummed." She mumbled to herself and kicked the ground.

She opened the door to the house and let out a yawn, tired from a long night on the town. She turned on the lights and went upstairs to change out of her kimono, then returned to the living room to see if there was anything good on the HoloNet. She got up to a drink from the kitchen, when she came back she spotted a pile of letters on the desk.

"Looks like we got mail. I wonder what paperwork we got this time.." Akina sighed. The mail, one of the systems her mother had been trying to work out of the spaceport was sending durasheet copies of everything to her home to look through. Its rarely done anywhere in the galaxy expect at old spaceports that didn't have the money for digital space or old archaic systems still left in place. The limited infrastructure of Gelda made it a necessity for now though. She picked up the pile, shuffling through them. Most of it was junk, bills, random assorted boring-

And then, Akina's heart stopped.

The last envelope had the gold and blue of the Gelstar logo on it.

Hands trembling, she slowly took hold of the envelope and tore it open. The letter contained a single folded up slip of durasheet, with bated breath, and a mixture of dread and excitement, Akina opened it and read the words:

"Dear Akina Kracksn,"

"Please please please..." Akina muttered to herself.

"It is a great pleasure to inform you that you have passed out requirements and been selected for admission to join the Gelstar Security Force."

"You were chosen from the largest and most competitive applicant pool on the planet for this opportunity. On behalf of our Chief, the faculty, and other enlistees - Congratulations and welcome to Gelstar!"

Akina's heart stopped, and her jaw dropped. A slow smile began to form on her face.

"As a Gelstar recruit, you are joining the very best. You will study aboard our training ship the Nebulon-B frigate Motherbird, and take courses from faculty you will be working alongside."

"You will also enjoy one of the best work experience by putting your training to the test as we expand to work in the surrounding areas of the Carrion sector."

"Please submit your online enrollment deposit at our HoloNet page or when you arrive. Your admission is contingent upon the successful submission of an official transcript when the coursework is complete. The admissions committee expects that you will at least maintain your academic performance during the entirety of your training."

"Akina Kracksn, there has never been a better time or place for you. Please do not hesitate to contact the Office of Admissions if you have any questions or concerns. I look forward to greeting you here at the port with the other recruits."

"Sincerely,"

"Harecta Ragina Admissions Manager "

Akina nearly dropped the letter in amazement. Tears of joy began to form across her face. She wanted to laugh and cry all at the same time.

"Yes! Yes!" She yelled out, practically jumping with joy and shaking in excitement.

"I did it! Oh, my stars I'm going to be a Gelstar pilot!"

Her mind raced, what ship would she get to pilot? V-wings? Headhunters? X-wings? Would they be T-65s or T-70s?

Oh who cares, Akina thought. She'd made it, she'd actually finally made it! No more tiresome days of checking passengers in and out! No more boring booth job she'd finally done it!

She flopped back on the nearest chair, clutching the letter close to her chest and laughing as she tried desperately to calm herself down.

"I did it Dad, I did it..."

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ailyn came home late. Cleanup had gone on longer than she'd expected at the food booth. But luckily she had plenty of leftovers that would no doubt be eaten up by the end of the week. As she set the box down on the kitchen table she looked over to see Akina slouched down in the chair. She slowly walked over to her.

"Hey, honey. How was your night?" She looked down and saw the paper in her hands as her daughter turned and looked up.

"Mom! I made it in! I'll be starting Flight classes at the end of next week!" Akina said, with the twinge in her voice of someone who'd just been crying. She sniffled then put down the letter. "I'll be getting ready for bed now." She turned off the HoloNet transceiver then was silent for a moment.

"Actually mom. There's something else I need to talk to you about."

"Maybe tomorrow honey." Ailyn said rolling her shoulders and turned towards the stairs, "It's pretty late-"

"It's about dad." Akina said, and saw her mother stop dead in her tracks. "I heard what happened to him. Why didn't you tell me?" Ailyn didn't move, for a few heartbeats, there was silence in the room. Quietly she turned and sat down next to her.

"Because… Because I didn't want you to know..."

"You didn't want me to know that he died a hero!?" Akina said, feeling hurt at the excuse. "Saving our home and driving off those villains!?"

"There! That right there is why! Because I didn't want you to think of him like that!" Ailyn said shaking her head. "I didn't want you to get that idea in your head that you'd feel privileged by it!"

"Privileged? Mom!" Akina interjected. "If anything I feel honored! My dad, your husband, was a hero!"

"But he didn't have to be a dead one!" Ailyn shouted, louder than she had meant to. "You- you weren't even born yet. It was almost time. When the attack came I knew he'd try and do something reckless. I was there when the reports came in. I begged him not to go, to stay here and let the others fight. I was so mad. But he wouldn't listen. He just had that smile and said he had to go. He was so sure he'd make it through it like everything else. I was on the landing pad when he came back... He looked like he'd won the war all over again, a pained smile on his lips. He looked at me and… Then he fell to his knees and I- I just knew I'd lost him." She struggled to stop herself from crying.

"I.. I was left alone to take care of you! We were going to be a family! Just a normal family! No war! No trauma! Just a quiet life! And these last few years… I felt like I was losing you too. If you did… I just felt it would break my heart.." she clenched her fists, gripping her skirt.

"You've been holding onto this, for all these years, and you never told me?" Akina stuttered a breath. Her mother had that same feeling all this time. "I just wanted to honor his memory mom! I don't plan to go fighting in a war!"

"But the galaxy isn't safe! There are horrors and things out there more dangerous than anything we have here on Gelda!"

"And there are some wonders more incredible than we can imagine! I've read Dad's journal! He saw some amazing things! I want to see them for myself and I want to make the galaxy safer!"

Ailyn was silent. "You.. still have that then?"

"Yes. He talked about you a lot."

"Well.. then I guess it's time I show you something. Wait here ok?" Ailyn got up from her seat and walked up to her room. A few minutes later she back down in her home attire, carrying a box, an old, worn box that clearly hadn't been opened in years. "Your father made a message for you that I was supposed to give you on your eighteenth birthday. I..kept it hidden because I couldn't bear to hear it. Go ahead." She handed Akina a small Holodisk. She took it hesitantly and inserted it into the projector. Before long, it lit up and an image of her father, Kenth Kracksen, stood before her.

"Hello, Akina! As of recording this, it's been a few days since we picked your name and I decided to do something special! I'm going to tell you what we're up to. Sort of makes this a time capsule for when you finally become an adult. Your mother really likes the idea so who knows! Maybe your siblings will get one too!"

He let out a satisfied chuckle, and the corner of Akina's eye caught a glimpse of her mother sinking back into the kitchen with tears in her eyes.

"Well, we've been through a lot to get to where we are now. Our other baby Gelstar is doing just fine! And who knows? Maybe you've been my little assistant while you were growing up! Learning the ins and outs of X-Wings and maybe you even have your pilot's license by now. I hope we have a bigger house, we've been looking at options but until we have a more steady income from the business that's on hold. It's been tough these last few years but I finally feel like I've got my life back together. And Akina, whatever you become, know that I'll be proud of you. I love you, sweetie. And if I'm not there in person, have a happy birthday!" He smiled and the recording turned off.

For a long moment, Akina just stared at the holoprojector, her face motionless as she processed what just happened. Taking a deep breath, she walked to the edge of the kitchen and leaned against the opening.

"I'm going, Mom. I have to go, and I know you'll hate me for saying this, but I want to make something of dad part of the family again." She heard Ailyn sniffling from the other side.

"I want to make something of him in my life, and I think Gelstar is the way to go. If.. if it doesn't turn out, I'll have at least tried and I need to know I can do this. Sure, the galaxy isn't safe but honestly, it never really was, and now it's even worse. The New Republic isn't doing anything to help the rim. Pirates and raiders are running everywhere and the Judicial Department is run thin while the so-called 'military' does nothing to help us. Entire planets and systems are being bled dry by mercenary protection rackets while the New Republic fleet just sits in the Hosnian system doing nothing. Dad had the right idea, and he saved us from being nothing but an indebted people by making sure we wouldn't spend our lives scrounging up whatever we could just for some level of safety. I feel like I have to make sure that we can at least stand up and show everyone that we can be strong, that the galaxy can be made better."

"But at the cost of yourself," Ailyn answered back. "And I don't want the burden of losing all my family just so I can feel safe. What's the point if I lose you too?"

Akina breathed "I don't know, some of us won't get happy endings. But I can't just sit here knowing I could've done something but didn't. I am making my story, and it's going to go somewhere.. I hope."


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello to any new readers. This fanfic is to give some of the star wars fans out there something original to enjoy. I originally wrote this on Fanfic.net but a few people have suggested I bring it here. I'll be bringing over the other chapters over the next few days. I have enjoyed writing this and I hope those of you who start reading here enjoy reading.

"Stay with him Grey 4!"

"Acknowledged Grey 9! I've got him in my sights!"

Akina shoved the acceleration stick forward. The thrusters on her T-65 flared up in response, blasting the fighter craft forward. Ahead of her was a single GAT-12 Skipray Blastboat, laser fire hammering into the nearby XQ1 Platform. Her target was a notoriously heavily armed and armored vessel, to the point where many questioned if it even counted as a starfighter anymore, but it was also sluggish and lacking in agility, which would allow her X-Wing to run circles around the gunship. Akina glared at the Skipray through her orange visor as her X-Wing sped towards the target at breakneck speed. Its s-foils were locked in attack position, giving the ship its distinctive shape and namesake, and under Akina's control the craft swooped down like a bird of prey.

Suddenly, just as Akina entered the Skipray's range, its top-mounted laser cannon swiveled back and locked on to her fighter. Akina's eyes widened and she grit her teeth as bright red laser bolts lit up the void around her, and she banked a sharp left turn before spinning and rolling as her X-Wing zig-zagged through the vortex of laser fire. Akina dodged most of them, her shields guarding her against the few she was unable to miss, but the Skipray wasn't quite as sluggish as she'd initially assumed and Akina found herself unable to line up a shot.

"Grey 9!? Can I get a little help here!?" She tailed the Blastboat into a nosedive. It struggled to shake her off, to lose its pursuer, but she kept on it.

"I'm coming up on em' now! Get ready to break left!" The other pilots' voice boomed from over the comm.

"I see you Grey 9, ready when you are!"

Akina eyed her controls and prepared herself to be ready to break left. Waiting for the signal, she fired a few more shots into the pirate starfighter for good measure.

"Ready... Now Grey 4!"

Akina was ready, and she pulled her stick leftwards and took a sharp ninety-degree angle. From behind her, Fair opened fire, his shots headed straight for the Skipray. The Blastboat pulled right and Fair's shots narrowly missed it. The Skipray then turned ninety degrees into a one hundred eighty degree turn, taking advantage of the opening to launch a counter-attack on its assailants.

"I'm on him Grey 9!" She circled around to the side of the Skipray, and blasted into the side of the ship. Akina grinned and silently cheered to herself as the Skipray exploded in a spectacular display of fireworks. Turning away from the wreckage she flew her X-wing back through the debris "Wooh! That's another one down! How many of them are left?"

"Looks like five of them, we've taken out four," Fair said, searching across his long-range scanner. "Let's circle the station and regroup."

"Copy that Grey 9." Akina formed up on his wing and they flew back in the direction of the small supply station. Suddenly, just as the two were back and circling the station, a blast of laser bolts flew in front of their canopies. Akina blinked in surprise as the bolts exploded across the station's hull in front of them.

"Whoa pull up! Evasive maneuvers!" Fair yelled, banking his X-Wing in a different direction. Akina was quick to follow when a blaster bolt fired past her cockpit and she noticed that an IPV-1 Patrol Craft was hot on their tails.

"I thought these were all going to be Blastboats!" Fair yelled in frustration as the two peeled away from the station, the IPV trailing behind them with its guns locked on them.

"Stay evasive! Keep your eyes open for more Blastboats-" She barely got the words out of her mouth as she felt the cockpit rock from an impact. Akina looked back in horror as two Blastboats formed up with the IPV, and the newly formed squadron began chasing them down.

"Look out it's coming right for you!" Fair said as he struggled to shake off the IPV's laser fire.

"Where the heck is Erkan at!? He said he was guarding the station!" Akina asked as she tried to shake the Blastboat, breaking away from the IVP and circling the station.

"Akina I can't handle this thing, and I already couldn't handle that Blastboat!" Fair said. He tried desperately to break its lock but it was no use, the relentless turbo laser fire had him pinned in place. The Blastboat chasing him peeled off as the patrol ship went for Akina. Akina watched the two ships closely through her scope, observing closely and waiting for an opening. She just needed one small...

"Here goes nothing!" She yelled, and in a final desperate escape maneuver, Akina cut her engines and engaged her reverse thrusters. That was the opening she needed. She immediately launched back behind the two Gunboats, zooming between them and darting backward until she was right behind them, and the pirates were right in her sights. Without a moment's hesitation, she targeted the nearest gunboat, and a duo of proton torpedoes blasted the Gunboat into dust.

"Yes! Grey 9! Try a cut and full reverse!" Akina suggested. Her attention was immediately directed elsewhere when more blaster bolts flew into view, and she realized the other Blastboat was now on her tail. She pulled her nose straight up and shot away from the station.

"I can't hold still that long! The Blastboat would get me!" Fair yelled into his comm as he turned back towards the station and narrowly avoided the patrol craft firing at him as it closed the distance between them. "Grey 4! I'm going to try and fly over by the station and use it as cover. Can you come around and attack it?"

"I'll try! This one is tracking me like a hungry Buzzdroid!" Akina shook violently in her seat as another laser blast hit her stern. Akina froze as she heard the sound of a missile lock on came beeping from her controls. "Its locked on! Ah! Can you get them?"

"I can't get- Ahh!" Fair shouted, "My stabilizer's been hit!"

"Grey 9!? Grey 9 respond!"

Akina looked out her window, frantically scanning her surroundings in an attempt to find her wingman.

It didn't take long for her to notice the flaming, sparking X-Wing slowing down and scrape against the station.

"Grey 9!" Akina yelled in horror as she witnessed Fair's plight in front of her, but she had barely a moment to soak in the horror before her console sparked in response to an ion blast.

Akina pulled her hands away from the controls, covering her face in an attempt to shield it from the rapid display of sparks now bursting forth from her controls. The entire X-Wing spun out of control, and another blaster volley finished the craft off.

Everything went dark.

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

When the simulation ended, Akina was breathing rapidly, her jaw slacked and her eyes wide as her heartbeat rapidly in her chest. Even the knowledge that everything she'd just experienced was nothing more than an elaborate training simulation did little to relieve her. It might have all been digital, an elaborate illusion created by advanced computer systems, but it felt real enough for Akina to panic. For the briefest of moments, part of her had forgotten she was in a simulation. For the smallest space of time, a minuscule primal part of her mind had been fooled into thinking she really was on a fatally damaged X-Wing spiraling through space while her controls burst into flames right in front of her, the transparisteel window being the only thing separating her from the cold void of space.

And that was probably, to some extent, the point of the simulation.

Akina's breathing slowed, and she calmed down as the canopy slowly opened up above her, the thin transparisteel covering rising away from her head. The artificial lighting shone down on her as the rest of the class paid no heed to the frightened young pilot sitting in the cockpit. She let out a sigh, remembering where she was and taking a moment to calm herself from the ordeal, before taking off her helmet. She moved to climb out of the cockpit and looked up at the class as their focus was directed purely towards a set of monitor screens above the simulators.

"Fair still going?" She asked aloud, trying to get their attention.

"Nope, right here. Got hit a few seconds after you." Fair replied as the other simulator opened its canopy.

"What happened to Erkan?" She asked as a techniton came through the door and saw Erkan sitting in a chair near the door. "Well speaking of- where have you been?"

"Got hit by the IPV right after I finished off an incoming Gunboat. I didn't notice till it was too late. You guys did pretty good in there today." Erkan said as Akina and Fair climbed out.

"If we had more fighters we could have handled that better," Akina said as she tucked her helmet under her arm.

"But you didn't." A voice said from the door and they turned as their instructor Samar Voler, nicknamed Steer, walked in. He was a medium-sized bulky man with dark black hair and a thin beard. His demeanor was fairly jovial but tough in classes. So when he entered the rest of the class made sure to listen from the observation room.

"The point of the exercise was to face a large number of hostiles with limited numbers."

"So what exactly were we supposed to do sir? Just survive long enough for reinforcements to arrive?" Fair asked.

"Precisely." Samar said "That and to cover the station while they evacuated."

"And how were we supposed to do that?" Akina asked.

"Coordinate better, cover each other, and inform each other of important targets." He replied.

"We were doing that," Fair said.

"Well to be Fair, you weren't."

Fair groaned, rolled his eyes and shook his head. That particularly irritating pun was the running joke of the class when involving him, and Akina couldn't help but hide a smile. "Situations out here are hardly fair. Even with facilities like these and the harsh training you've been getting you still won't be able to predict every threat, the best you can do is be prepared for the unpredictable."

"Alright, we'll try harder next time," Fair said before turning and leaving the room with his datapad.

All of the recruits' datapads were plugged into the X-Wing flight simulators to record their scores and to look over the combat data from the computer linked to all three simulators. Akina grabbed hers and walked back into the observation room to read through the results. She'd gotten three kills and a kill assist on the second Gunboat with Fair's help. Overall, despite everything, it was not a bad start to her day.

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

After the simulation class had finished up, Akina made her way through the corridor to her next class. The modified Nebulon-B was not only a mobile training center but also took them to various planets where the recruits could get first-hand experiences in the classes of their choosing. As a pilot, many had been finding the simulators tough. Akina had been learning this first hand, with several failing scores to start her first week. But ever since then she had been honing her skills in the simulators in her off-hours. Tough as it was going to be her only real flight experience. Slowly she had begun to get a handle on flying while Fair and the other pilots were busy with most of the other classwork.

Akina stopped at the end of the corridor and walked into her next class for the day, flight tactics. Samar had already begun going over today's ships. The subject matter today, much to Akina's chagrin, was the very same ships she'd faced earlier in the simulation, the IPV-1 System Patrol Craft and the Skipray Blastboat. Both were originally Imperial ships, but like most surplus equipment after the war, they were now on the open market and available to civilians, as well as many criminal groups. They went over the strengths and blind spots of both ships in excruciating detail, before switching over to a lecture on Galactic Civil War era Rebellion fighters. All throughout it, Samar repeatedly made a point of mentioning how versatile the X-Wing was and how best to make use of it, and it was blindingly obvious that he had a clear bias in favor of the ship.

"The Rebellion used it more to hit and run. If you're in a pinch and need more speed close your s-foils to boost engine power, gain distance, then try and close in on your next target."

"What about situations where you've got a larger ship on your tail?" Erkan asked.

"In your case, you should have called your wing-mates to help swarm the IPV. Your proton torpedoes would be able to punch through and deal immense damage to its engines. You negate its speed and secure your ability to take control of the battlefield." Samar said. "Any other questions?"

"What's the hardest difficulty the simulator has?" Fair asked.

"Ever want to try fighting a Star Destroyer?" Samar asked. "Those old Alliance simulators wanted you prepared for everything you'd face."

"Not like you'd be able to beat that." Someone jived at Fair. He turned back around and saw the two class clowns smirking at him.

"Well then. Looks like you two just volunteered to show it off for the next class." Samar said. "Perhaps your own skills might improve." The two chuckled but the whole class slowly shrank a little. Almost every one of the show-offs had been dropped from the class. Akina knew Samar was looking for people who would keep calm on the battlefield and wouldn't snide back at orders.

As Akina sat back in her chair and listened while the class went over the footage and fighter tactics, she reminisced. Had it really been a month since she'd joined the Motherbird? The time felt like it had flown right past. She'd spent week after week with this same routine, going from mission after mission in the simulators to sitting in a classroom learning about the various types of ships she could encounter. Occasionally the Motherbird would stop by some planet to learn something they couldn't aboard the ship. Usually, they'd get some kind of first-hand experience in some important field like fighter repair or something else. A part of her missed Gelda, a part of her wondered to herself how her mother was getting on if she was still working at the booth and if she was wondering how Akina herself was getting on. A part of her felt slightly homesick, but overall she was glad to be here, and if the last month had already gone by this fast it would be no time at all until she was a fully-fledged pilot.

"...and here the break and reverse was very well executed. Now Akina, next time see if you can get them both."

Akina smiled at the compliment from Samar. She had been trying hard to have good grades in flight training and any traces of recognition she received were much welcomed.

"Now tomorrow you'll be running it again, so study up those two ships. They're both in the library archive along with the other ships you've faced. Class dismissed."

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Akina idly looked down at her datapad as she strolled through the Motherbird's corridors. Her placement grades had just been released, and she paid little attention to her surroundings as she scrolled through them. The score for her negotiation paper had flopped while her role as a squad leader had also gotten a passable score. Her flight tests were now perfect passes and her marksman skills were also passing. With a small smirk of satisfaction, she made her way to the lounge.

As she entered the lounge she spotted Fair and Erkan sitting on a couch looking out at the refueling station the Motherbird was docked at. She sat down with them and decided to share her excitement.

"I'm going to be a pilot after all!" She said with a smile.

"Looks like it's going to be about the same here. My score wasn't good enough for the surveillance forces." Fair sighed with disappointment.

"Well, my combat scores were great!" Erkan boasted with a visible sense of pride.

"I'll probably be assigned to a patrol squad, or if I'm lucky I might even be put aboard a cargo ship as security, kicking back and waiting for pirates to be dumb enough to board the ship. This is all assuming you guys can't knock 'em all down first."

Akina nodded, bemused by Erkan's pride. "We'll see about that."

Erkan's team was great in the mock battles from what she'd seen, his precision blaster fire was especially noteworthy. Unfortunately, this seemed to be the only thing he was good at. Akina suspected he'd end up as a security officer, albeit a pretty good one, if he could pass his other classes.

"Well if I can get on the teacher's good side like Akina here I'd probably be passing already." Fair threw a glance back as instructor Samar walked through the door. He paid them no heed, unaware of Fair's comment, as he walked up to the food dispenser. Samar was one of the many X-Wing pilots that were part of Gelstar's early recruits under her dad. Now with the company as big as it was he transferred to teaching new students and had been an instructor for two years now. Fair's jab at Akina wasn't unfounded, he had been tough on all of them at first but somewhere along the line, he seemed to have taken a liking to Akina. She'd gotten some chances to talk with him over the month and he was very forthcoming about his career. He glanced back at her as he held his afternoon Caf, acknowledging her presence, and gave her a quick nod as he left the lounge.

"So do you guys have any plans for the afternoon?" Akina asked.

"Fair and I are going to head over to the training center to workout." Erkan replied, "You want to come?"

"No, I'll go later." She got up from her seat and stretched her arms over her head.

"I'm going to head back to my room. Later guys."

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Akina walked back into her room and dropped her book bag on the floor. She reached up to a nearby shelf and pulled down her datapad, as well as a folder of durasheets, and placed them on her desk to look over later.

"Looks like Cissra is still out," Akina said to herself as she looks at her roommate's bunk.

Her roommate had recently started dating one of the other recruits, who's name she hasn't bother to remember, and the two were much better together away from the room. All their flirting when he came over was extremely uncomfortable and Akina was glad when visiting hours were up and he finally had to go.

Akina and Cissra didn't cross paths other than in the room. Akina didn't outright despise her, but she didn't care much for her either. Being an only child, never having had to accommodate siblings, she deeply missed the comfort of having a room all to herself. She wasn't used to the lack of privacy, and constantly being in the same room as somebody she didn't particularly like wore her down. With no reason to continue standing in the middle of the room, she walked over to her wardrobe and grabbed her exercise clothes and stuffed them into her bag. Akina hoisted the bag over her shoulder, and walked towards the door, flicking the light off on her way out. She decided she'd get some exercise done before heading to her job. As fun as she had hanging out with Fair and Erkan, right now she'd much rather sweat out her day on her own, deciding she'd simply enjoy the solitude for a while. After all, it's how she'd done most things back at home, why stop now?

"Home.." Akina thought to herself, she looked back over her shoulder, taking one last glance up at the Rasp plushie she'd gotten at the festival sitting on the shelf of her desk. Her thoughts briefly rewound back to the day she'd gotten accepted to Gelstar, the day she'd pulled open the letter and jumped with joy at the prospect, much to the chagrin of her mother. She'd been here for more than a month now, and her confidence had been steadily rising as she'd become one of the best pilots in the class. She hadn't heard from her mother much but she did get a care package at the beginning of the week filled with snacks, in particular, some of the QuickSnack brand, some small touchstone's, and several bags of Geldan Sunchips. It was good to know that her mother remembered her favorites.

"Looks like today is going to be a just me day," Akina muttered to nobody and looked at the datapad in her hand. This one was particularly important, she'd brought it from home and it contained the object that had started her on this path in the first place, her dads' journal entries, from start to finish. She planned on reading through it again at some point, probably when her busy schedule of getting murdered repeatedly in the simulations gave her time. For now, however, she stuffed it into her bag and slung it over her shoulder and left the room.

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"At the rate your taking I might as well repair myself!" The LE series droid said from the maintenance table.

"Well right now you don't have any legs, so I don't see how you're gonna do that," Akina replied, a sarcastic smirk on her face.

"I've spent the last hour and a half fixing plenty of droids. Our teachers want us to learn these skills. Why don't you just be happy that you're contributing to our life experience?"

"I do that already by keeping the power core running so that the life support stays on and you don't all suffocate or freeze to death! Also, why are we talking? You should have deactivated me while performing this operation!"

"Aw c' mon, I enjoy the constructive criticism, listening to you berate every move I make is very helpful indeed!"

"Very amusing, Miss Kracksn. How much longer? I have important duties to attend to."

"Be patient, R4 is just getting your new legs, once he gets back I connect it to the new joint I'm installing and you'll be good as new!"

"Wonderful. Perhaps I'll return to engineering and recommend you to my superior. He could use a memory wipe after hearing our new hyperdrive motivator won't last for another month."

"The one that they bought at a discount because of the expenses of installing the extra-large hangar deck module?"

"Correct. This ship was not built to be a fighter carrier and I have no idea why they insisted on making it one! Just get an escort carrier or something and let this cruiser be used for its intended purpose! Fortunately, should something go wrong we always have the backup. My purpose is to keep you all from suffocating and I intend to do it."

"Well, I feel much safer knowing you're around to do that."

"I'm honored, Miss Kracksn."

The LE droid seemed to have softened up now. A technician had carried him in a few minutes ago. The droid's legs had been crushed after an accident where he'd been knocked down over a safety rail by a failing grav lift carrying heavy crates. They had landed right on his legs, smashing them immediately, and he'd been dragged into the repair bay by the arms and dropped on Akina's table. Akina had found her new patient positively insufferable at first, but now they seemed to be getting along better.

"We'll have you back to work in no time." Akina' assured him. She turned her head to the sound of the door opening and her work assistant rolled in.

"R4! You got the legs from storage yet?" She called out behind her.

The droid beeped an affirmative as it happily whirred over to the table carrying the replacement legs.

"Thanks, little guy, I'll take those then." Akina lifted them up onto the table and began attaching the replacements to the maintenance droid. She'd learned binary growing up in the spaceport and she could understand droids as well as most people who grew up in such environments. It made her time in the repair shop much nicer since she could hold a conversation with R4.

Akina smiled, the R4 whirring around beside her was one of the first friends she'd made on the Motherbird, having run into him the first time she got put on droid repair duty. He'd broken an internal component that day as they were working, and Akina paused what she was doing to repair him. After that, he'd been sticking by her side, he'd been grabbing tools and whatever parts she needed every time she got put on this assignment. She hadn't asked for his help, he'd just given it. Akina had in turn taken a liking to the droid, and even got a chirp from him the few times they passed each other in the hallways.

R4 beeped at her again, wanting to draw her attention.

"Someone's upfront? Alright." Akina finished, clicking the legs onto the droid. "Mind finishing him up for me?"

He beeped affirmatively and wheeled his way around the table while Akina sat up and wiped the grime on her blue jumpsuit. She got up and walked out of the maintenance area to find a few of the pilots standing in a line at the desk.

"Hey, Akina! You got my R3 back there?"

"R3-3D is back up and ready to go. You two here for your droids as well?"

They both nodded and Akina went back into the door on her right. She opened the shutters to the maintenance room and the three astromech droids rolled out. They looked good as new, R4 had taken great care in polishing the grit off of them and they whirred around effortlessly, happy at their new renovations.

"How about next time you guys get into a firefight you try better not to hurt these little guys?"

"Oh come on it's not that bad." The first in line knocked his droid's clear dome and its head spun around and beeped.

"So you're going to fly me instead huh? In your dreams 3D. Thanks for your hard work Akina. You kids are close to graduating right?"

"Fairly close. I'll be going for the pilots track like you guys."

"Well, then you'd best be ready for some crazy training." The other pilot chimed in. "I hear they've got something special planned for this year's recruits."

"Then I'll be ready."

"Good luck to you then Akina. Have a good day." The leader said as all three of them walked back into the corridor. R4 rolled up beside her and beeped.

"All fixed up then? Alright if you want to send him off I'll log the repair time. Is that everything for today?"

The droid twittered an affirmative as they went back into the workshop, then beeped a question.

"No, I don't think they'll let me pick my droid when I get a ship. But if they ask for recommendations I'd be happy to have you as my co-pilot. But I think you've got your work cut out for you here as it is."

The droid twittered and gave an indignant sound.

"Heh, don't worry, unlike the last person here I actually take care of my tools.."

R4 twittered insistently again and whistled.

"Alright, I'm going, you can go ahead and head back to the droid hold until the next emergency patient shows up. See you tomorrow R4."

The droid rolled away and twittered back as he whirred down the hall towards the droid hold to recharge his power cells until he was needed again. Akina finished cleaning off her tools and then started to put them away.


	4. Chapter 4

"Alright, so does anybody have any idea what a Code 11-95 is?"

It took a moment for the students, buried in their studies, to take note of Akina's question. They were in a small simple room, consisting of a single large round table, a number of seats, and a large viewport stretching across one of the walls. The Motherbird had a number of these rooms, small conference rooms repurposed to act as study rooms for the students.

Akina had initially taken a liking to this room precisely for its solitude, having found it one day in a desperate attempt to escape Cissra and her boyfriend's eye-rolling sappy affection to study in peace. The irony, of course, was that it didn't take long for Erkan to find her, needing some help with his own work, and over time the two had been joined Kona, Dedro, and Finde to form a sort of impromptu study group.

Looking up from his datapad, Dedro was the first to respond. "Uhh.. it was used during the Old Republic right?"

"Yeah, most of these were Old Republic codes. Now, what does it do?"

"Was it the one allowing officers to reward informants?"

"No, you're thinking of Regulation A-76. Security Force Regulation 11-95 was a regulation that demanded that conversations between security officers and non-security personnel were to be kept to a minimum."

The group let out a collective sigh, frustrated at their failure. Akina put down her datapad, sick of going through old security codes. This was easily the worst part of her training. She didn't care about all of these codes, didn't care which ones dated back to the Ruusan Reformation and which ones were only implemented during the Clone Wars. Much to her chagrin, it was still considered an integral part of the curriculum.

"So, I guess we're done for the day huh?" Akina said.

"I've had enough security protocols for one day. Also, my stomach is empty. Anybody want to get a bite to eat?" Finde said.

"Nah, I already ate. I'm good." Dedro replied.

"Well, I'm going to grab dinner and head over to the port side lounge. Anybody else wanna come?" Finde asked.

"Sure, I'll go with you," Kona said. Finde nodded, and they all packed their bags, hoisted them up over their shoulders, and made their way to the exit.

"Let's get going," Erkan said, getting up.

"Fair is probably in the mess by now Hopefully he got us a table."

"It's only fair considering how many times we've saved him a table," Akina smirked as she finished stuffing her bag.

"You're lucky he didn't hear that," Erkan commented.

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A short turbolift car ride took the group down to the passenger area at the bow of the ship. It had taken Akina a while to adjust to space-borne life. The extra-planetary lifestyle had many subtle, minor intricacies that she had to get used to. For one, she'd developed a bad habit of staring out the window into hyperspace. The swirling bright blue vortex was enthralling, and Akina was both fascinated and nauseated, while at the same time thoroughly captivated by the dimension. Her peers had advised her not to stare at it for too long. There were many stories of the dreaded hyper-rapture, a debilitating madness that supposedly sparked from long term exposure to hyperspace. They were probably just teasing her, and Akina wasn't sure she believed this hyper-rapture existed, but at the same time, she didn't want to risk it.

"You ever get nervous, being stuck aboard this ship?" Erkan asked, breaking the silence as they exited the turbolift and walked out into the hallway.

"Why would I be nervous?" Akina countered.

"This is an old ship, part of the Rebel Alliance back in the day, and it's been going non-stop for three decades. I don't mean to insult the engineers who keep this place running but something's gotta give out sooner or later."

"You're overthinking it. I've heard the engineers talking about this ship, and I've spoken with the repair droids. This ship's good as new, even with its age. Don't worry Erkan, you won't die in space anytime soon."

The Motherbird – along with its sister ship the Albatross, Gelstar's other training vessel - was a former New Republic ship, one of many surplus ships abandoned during the demilitarization. Many of Gelstar's ships had similar origins to the Motherbird, handed down from the Rebel Alliance and obtained in spite of the bureaucratic hurdles. Others were donated from sympathizers within and throughout the New Republic, and some were even captured material, recovered from pirate bases and criminal hideouts. Overall it was a highly makeshift fleet scraped together from whatever Gelstar could get their hands on, and Akina and the other students had received an extensive overview of its scope and size early on into their training. Twenty medium-sized vehicles, dozens of corvettes, hundreds of fighters, the allegiance of many planetary militias, and several hundred security officers working on worlds throughout all of the surrounding sectors summed it up. The star-shaped badges and insignia even earned them the nickname "The Suns Of Peace," a curious piece of local slang spoken with both reverence and a little bit of mockery. For a force put together without even a single credit of backing from the New Republic in the backwater of the galaxy, it was truly an impressive sight.

And Akina felt a small private flicker of pride knowing her father played a part in getting it started.

She also enjoyed the sense of community aboard the ship, the pilots and crew were also active personnel and regularly departed for peacekeeping missions. The hangar was constantly busy with fighters coming and going for calls that Akina occasionally heard broadcasting through the halls. A pilot walked past her, giving a nod as he left the mess hall.

"Friend of yours?" Erkan asked

"A Customer, I did some repairs on his droid earlier, Its ventilator system was clogged which was causing smoke to leak from the dome."

"Was it going to explode?"

"Probably would have burnt out and sparked a bit. But luckily they didn't wait that long to find out. Especially since he's next to a fuel line."

Erkan let out a disappointed sigh as they reached the mess hall. The rectangular room was lined with long tables. At the far end of the room, a kitchen droid was serving food to a line of people, food dispensers and a small buffet served those who didn't want to wait. Looking around, Akina spotted Fair at a table, and the group headed toward him.

"Hey, guys. How was the study group?"

"As dull as it always is, besides a few good jokes of course," Erkan said as he put his stuff down. Akina did the same. The two left to get food and returned shortly.

"So what have you been up to?" Akina asked Fair.

"Oh not much. Worked out with Erkan for a bit, then I went to the games room for a bit and back to my quarters and called my parents. Apparently, they're having trouble with tax collectors." he said, making quotes in the air with his hands, "that tried to levy charges against them to give up the new hospital."

"I thought you're from a family of pharmacists right?" Akina asked.

"More like Doctors now. The Preznin family business has been slowly growing across Dactruria for years to help give more accessible medical care. The new hospital they just opened has been lobbied by a corporation who wanted the land, but we beat them out of the bid. So now they're trying to call it foul play and take my parents to court."

"That's rough," Erkan said as he picked at his food. " They sound like a bunch of sore losers if you ask me."

"Hopefully it won't go that far. My parents aren't the only people unhappy with it, this company is walking over a lot of other local businesses, and my Dad is friends with a lot of them. As of right now, they're trying to band together to fight them.

"Sounds like your very own little Rebel Alliance." Akina chuckled.

"Well let's hope it all doesn't go the way of the New Republic then. Mired in politics while the people suffer and don't get what they need."

"Yeah, I've been reading some of the stuff in our security history documents. There were a lot of nasty incidents in the Outer Rim because of the neglect of the Old Republic. Looks like it's all happening again, only this time instead of the Ruusan Reformation it's the Military Disarmament Act."

Akina gave Erkan a surprised look. "You actually remembered something from class?"

"Shut up."

Akina chuckled, Erkan rolled his eyes and continued, "Honestly though, it is very similar. Even with all this old Rebel stuff the security forces still aren't able to handle all these big criminal groups. Lots of the pilots have been having a lot of trouble with the Zann Consortium and Black Sun recently from what I've heard."

"Well, that's mostly been the history of the Outer Rim," Fair said. "The Republic practically doesn't exist out here. The only change now is that we went from an Empire that had thousands of warships keeping the peace in several sectors, while exploiting almost every planet it was on to maintain that peace. It was definitely peace but at a big cost."

"You think the New Republic might have learned a few things. Instead, it's all gone back to the way it was under the Old Republic. Crime has been going up, and without the systems are building up their own defense forces, meanwhile, the government is full of senators who are too busy bickering to listen to the galaxy."

"If things don't change soon, well, it'll be like the Clone Wars all over again." Akina lamented as she took a bite of her food.

"Well then, maybe things would have been better with a Separatist victory," Erkan said.

"A government in the pockets of giant corporations?" Fair asked, his tone unambiguous.

"No! Of course not, I mean the good parts. Like the values of the Rebels mixed with the good part of the Separatist movement. Luckily most of those companies haven't gotten out from under the New Republic's thumb."

"Not yet," Akina said. "I'm sure they're still busy, but it's kinda unclear what the rest of the galaxy is up to with this mess. It used to be so clear from what I heard growing up. But now? Now it feels like another Napkin Bombing could be right around the corner."

"Yeah." Erkan slouched in his seat. "When I saw that on the HoloNet… that's kinda why I wanted to join Gelstar actually, to make sure stuff like that won't happen around here."

"Well it's not like the Senate is coming to the Outer Rim anytime soon," Fair replied, "and what do we have out here worth bombing?"

"Tell that to all pirates and mercenaries running around. Lucky for us that Gelstar expanded when it did. There's so much rampant thievery and commerce raiding that it's a miracle there's any law enforcement at all."

"Well, there's always been the Judicals," Akina replied but soon got a chuckle from Erkan.

"Please, those guys could hardly do anything during the Old Republic, and that's even when the Jedi where all across the galaxy."

"Speaking of, whatever happened to the Jedi? I know Luke Skywalker was a Jedi so whatever happened to him?" Fair asked.

"Don't really know. Maybe he retired to some mansion somewhere." Erkan said as he lifted himself out of his chair.

"I'm going to go try some of that cake, back in a bit."

Fair turned to Akina, "What do you think happened to him?"

"Don't know. Last I knew about the 'Heroes of Yavin' was something about Leia Organa retiring from the Senate, and before that was the big wedding between her and Han Solo, but I was pretty young at the time so I don't remember much about that. I hope they're still doing something to make the galaxy better."

"As heroes ought to do." Fair raised his cup for a drink and Akina returned to her food.

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

She and the others talked at the table for another half hour before they went their separate ways. Akina made her way to a medical lounge looking out on the neck of the Motherbird. The small room was used for patients, but with no patients, it was open to all personnel. Akina used the room often for studying when it wasn't being used, so she sat down on a couch and idly gazed out the large window at the glowing rim around the engine block. She pulled out her datapad and started scrolling through her work. She still had a pile of security codes to trawl through, but she was sick of them and practically gagged at the thought, Samar wanted her to get better at flying, and not wanting to even think of more security codes right now she decided she'd do that first.

"Hmmm, Let's see. The Alliance Starfighter tactics manual sounds like a good start." She muttered under her breath.

"A Tallon Roll is executed by leveling out, pulling up hard, then rolling away from the direction of the turn. To complete the maneuver the attacking pilot would have to slide in behind his target. This maneuver is difficult to counter because in typical starfighter combat this happens in a pilot's blind spot. At the same time, the maneuver is difficult to accomplish without the attacker becoming disoriented, making him overshoot and become a target himself."

She scrolled through the entries, reading silently to herself, fascinated by the applications. This was the part she actually liked, and it was far more interesting than security codes.

"Corellian Slip. When an enemy fighter trailed a friendly craft, another friendly ship would fly directly at both friend and foe, veering off at the last moment. Yep, this one worked great last time. Let's try something new."

She went deeper into the entries, hoping something interesting would catch her eye.

"Widowmaker, Interceptor Roll-Out, Horizon Approach, Tallon Split-what's this one? It sounds just like the other one. When two starfighters fly extremely close together as they approach a capital ship. The must get close enough so that the larger ship's targeting computer would detect the two fighters as a single approaching ship. Huh, that could be handy."

Akina bookmarked it for later, figuring she could read into it later. She stopped, Something in the back of her mind was tickling at her thoughts.

"Two fighters, one ship. I've heard about that somewhere before..."

She looked back at the entry, and suddenly her mind clicked.

"Dad's journal! That's right! He mentioned something like this!"

She reached down and snatched it from her bag. Pulling the datapad up in front of her she switched it on and started scanning back through the entries until she found the one she was looking for.

"Our flight instructor told us we're graduating early this morning. We aren't exactly ace pilots but we've got the basics nailed down and the Rebellion is strapped for pilots so here we are. I was actually pretty excited when I heard this. It was a long time coming but I finally feel ready to fly my X-wing in open space. We'll be getting assigned to our spacecraft and assigned to our posts."

She kept looking through the entry until she managed to find it.

"Here it is! I love this story."

Immediately, she scrolled back to avoid spoiling. Then, when she was at the beginning, she read it all in context.

"I've been at Sullust for three weeks now, and we've finally been given a mission other than convoy duty. We're setting out for Malastare in the morning, our ships are already getting prepped. Too bad Arrik just got transferred out; we lost thirty other pilots with those transfer orders and that took most of my new friends away six days ago. Luckily Jarak is still around, but they'll watch out for each other. Recently the New Republic's second battle group managed to win a swift victory over Eiattu a few days ago, lots of Imperial ships were scattered in the aftermath of the battle. The Mon Calamari cruiser's Defiance has come here for reinforcements to launch another attack. This is a bit long-winded, guess it will always be like this to write down these stories. Anyway, I was just in a briefing, and I want to get this all written down. The forces scattered in the attack are reforming over Malastare for repairs and refueling, and intelligence reports say that three Star Destroyers at the station are going to launch another attack on Naboo. We've also had a scout ship keep watch on the system to give us a signal for when they've jumped. Until the window of opportunity comes, we're just waiting around for the call. We're the closest strike point in the area so from here they hope to rally more ships while we go in to attack and soften things up. What's got Jarak worried is the real target of this attack, a Praetor Mark II-class battlecruiser, the Gallant Ambassador. I don't blame him, being a bomber pilot he'll be the one that's going to be getting all the attention. He's saying he wants to go in and try to take out the Ambassador's engines, but from what I've heard some reinforcements being dropped off from the Defiance will be taking care of that. The Defiance and her battlegroup are going to come in after we disable the defense stations and try to cut off a valuable strategic target from the Empire. Even now my nerves are wracked just sitting here and waiting for the call. Here's hoping this goes well."

Akina clicked the button to the next entry. Wondering again just what this ship, the Gallant Ambassador, looked like. Most likely she was another wedge-shaped vessel, similar to most Imperial Star Destroyers, the distinctive triangular shape the Imperial Navy tended to prefer was supposed to allow the ship to direct more firepower to the front, though it infamously left the rear of the vessel vulnerable.

"My squadron took off from the base at 0600 hours. We rushed over to our ships as soon as we heard the green light. It was pretty hectic out there but I've got to try and put this all down. We were designated Red Squadron for the mission and we launched with three other X-wing squadrons, two Y-wing groups, and even a full wing of B-wing squadron that was transferred off by the Defiance for the attack. Before we made the jump, Gold Leader, from his B-wing, said he'd be handing out some Corellian Whiskey for every pilot who made it back. So there was no way any of us were going to pass that up."

Akina smiled. Reading about her dad going off to his first battle and the chapters before of his training were very similar to her own. Unfortunately, she had the more dubious honor of living in a time with more data work than piloting to do.

"We dropped out of hyperspace two standard hours later, right at the edge of the system, and moved behind the first moon. The scout ship, a Corellian Corvette called the Thunder pulled into formation alongside us as we rushed the perimeter forces on the other side. We attacked in two groups from either side of the moon and caught some patrolling TIEs off-guard which we blasted to dust. Eventually, we sighted the station, it was a large Type IV-A Stardock, drydock arms sprawling from the center with warships docked along with it for repairs and refueling. As we closed in, three Tartan Patrol cruisers flew out and greeted us with laser fire. The B-wing squadron flying with us wiped them away in one go, and the Thunder's captain gave us our targets to hit as he began circling the perimeter to draw off the opening volleys of the defense guns as we flew around the station."

"B-wings, huh. Too bad we don't have that many," Akina thought aloud. Gelstar had only four squadrons of B-wings. The ships were in such high demand but the New Republic wouldn't produce any warships, leaving third parties locked out of the contracts. The only way to get them now was by joining what was arguably the longest waiting list in the galaxy.

"Our job was to handle the TIEs launching from the station while our Y-wings followed behind us to blow up the hangars. The station's surface emplacements were merciless, we lost three fighters while running cover for the bombers and baiting off the TIEs. The B-wings meanwhile decided to go for the prize, and Gold and Purple squadrons made an attack run on the Ambassador before she could slip her moorings and get underway. I was feeling pretty good just taking down the station's guns, but Jarak just had to ruin the fun. His droid's scanners had picked up an incoming ship, then the Thunder's long-range sensors confirmed it. We had a Secutor-Class Star Destroyer closing in on the planet and hailing the station. We picked up the chatter between them when suddenly two Vindicator heavy cruisers managed to launch from the repair yard on the other side of the station. Gold Leader reported difficulties with some Vigil-class corvettes that were screening his side of the dockyard as well, and the Vindicators meanwhile headed our way. Red Leader told all X-wings to break up. Red would go with the Y-wings to take down the Vindicators, while Crescent and Green squadrons would go with two squadrons of B-wings to intercept that Secutor before it could join the fray. The Defiance would be arriving in fifteen minutes, and we needed to hurry because the Ambassador's turbolasers were no longer shooting at us but at its moorings to pull out of its docking area. If we didn't clear those ships out of the way they could move to screen the battleship and allow it to escape."

Akina felt herself smiling as she pressed the button to the next page.

"The Thunder covered the Y-wings along with Reds Four, Six, and Seven. The other six of us moved in to strike at Vindicators as they circled the station. They seemed to not like the mass of starfighters heading towards them and so turned around, heading toward the Ambassador, as the stations gun emplacements kept firing to try and cover them. With their flanks exposed the ships tried to split up but it was too late as the Y-wings came in from behind and their engines were shredded by proton torpedoes. As we pulled away from one of the Vindicators it collided with the station mid-turn, while the other was still limping forward almost at a drift. We moved in for the kill, but two groups of TIEs swung up from under the Vindicator and broke our formation. We scattered. I cleared three before one was on my tail, but thankfully Red Two-Swagger as we call him-swooped in and cleared him off like it was nothing. Eventually, I found myself flying alongside Jarak as I blasted the TIE in front of him, stealing his kill. Two other Y-wings radioed us and suggested we hit the Vindicator and take it out of the fight. I actually took charge and told them to form up and try a Tallon Split. Our pair of fighters flew wing to wing, as we circled around the outside of the dogfight to rush the ship's command tower. Its canons opened up on us too late and we broke off, and the Y-wings opened with ion cannon fire to disrupt their electronics, which made it easier still when I fired my payload and drew the laser batteries' fire as I pulled right. Jarak got a straight shot with his torpedos right into the tower, and the other two did the same with one pulling right with me and dropping its payload into the point defense batteries. We all cut across the starboard side, too close for its guns to hit. Then the other Y-wings broke out of the dogfight and it was completely exposed to the bombardment, unable to escape or cover the battleship. The command deck smoldered and escape pods started launching as they abandoned the smoking hulk. "

"It sounds easy enough to do," Akina said to herself, but then immediately grimaced at the thought, staring down the cannons of a warship like that. It would be something she'd have to do out here, and it was a bit scary to think about if she was being honest with herself. It was amazing to her that this was only his first battle.

"Soon after the Defiance, three Nebulon-B's, frigates, some corvettes, and several more fighters swarmed into the battle. The Secutor was quickly out of action when the MC-80 opened up on the already battered ship. The Ambassador was adrift with its guns still firing. It took another hour before all its weapons were silenced. The Defiance and her escorts took heavy losses from engaging the battleship and the station's defenses. The Nebulon-B Lance was heavily damaged when it tried to cover the Defiance from incoming concussion missiles. The Imperial station commander surrendered, and we took over the station. Right now I'm aboard the Defiance, which I'm told is going to be our new home, can't wait to get to know everyone over that Correllian Whisky. It will be good to get out into the war now. We dealt a real blow to the Empire today."

Akina smiled as she read those words. Her father helped defeat the Empire, a force so cruel and terrible that the galaxy would never see its like again.

"I'll do my best, just like you."

She continued reading before a beep from her chronometer snapped her out of it. It was getting late, and she'd spent most of her study time reading this. She was eager to be done with it all. To just do what she wanted without all this work. Putting her datapad back into her bag, she got up and left the longue. Taking a turbolift back to her quarters, she imagined the battle in her head again as she saw all those ships flying around and doing those maneuvers she was reading about, the entire battle playing out all over again in her mind. She was doing her best to memorize them so she might become a better pilot. She didn't want to disappoint Samar for constantly making her out to be the best in the class, there was too much riding on her living up to the expectations for her to fail.

Once she reached the right level she exited the turbolift. The new flight quarters were located the mid-ship, so the pilots could get to their fighters in the hangar module quicker. Akina walked along until she reached the spot in the bulkhead where they had placed a transparisteel viewport into the hanger. From here she could see down into one of the hangar levels, each one filled with fighters. Some lay disassembled on the hangar floor, undergoing maintenance, while most simply sat waiting for their pilots. She'd gotten to know some of the pilots, talking to them in the shop, in the lounges, or when they came to classes to talk with the recruits about fieldwork. Even the captain had talked to the class when they first came aboard. Akina smiled as she took one last look through the window before heading back to her room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope those of you who are reading my story here are enjoying it. I'll have the next chapter uploaded tomorrow but feel free to give your thoughts on the story. I've been wanting to hear my reader's opinions on it even to something as simple as liking the dialog or characters. Chapters Three and Four were meant to be one whole but when I wrote them I felt the need to break it up to get it out faster. A lot of these early chapters im told were a bit dialog heavy but in the future ive been working to streamline this as I get more acustom to writing. This is all for fun so I hope you can handle this inexperience. So please enjoy it! I look forward to anyone else getting to read this. Also, I'm co-writing on another fanfic called Star Wars Ascendancy, check that one out if you havent already. It follows Thrawn and Ezra post Rebels and was my first dive into storytelling as I act as the lore guy and ideas man for the author. Anyone who is reading it and is here, yes he is alive. We are both busy and if you saw the update on fanfiction.net you know he is working on it. Anyway, thanks for reading and may the force be with you!


	5. Chapter 5

The light of hyperspace faded outside as the Motherbird dropped out of hyperspace. Akina walked through the hall as the ship moved deeper into the system. She and the other pilot recruits were supposed to meet in the classroom for a test but Samar messaged everyone to meet at the bridge. It was the first time the recruits had been allowed on the command deck. Akina stepped off the turbolift onto the bridge. She spotted the captain off to her left, talking to someone amid the bustle of crewers handling their duty stations. As the Motherbird slowly moved towards a blue-green planet in front of them, Samar waved her over as the other recruits entered and gathered by the observation window.

"Alright cadets, welcome to the Dubrillion system. This is where you'll be taking your final flying test."

Samar smiled and held his hand out, directing attention to a space station that came moving into view. The orbiting satellite was impressive, to say the least. Akina gave it a good look before it finally hit her like one of the asteroids in the belt around the planet.

"That's…that's Belt-Runner 1!" Akina said.

"No way!" Fair exclaimed.

"You don't think it could be…"

"Lando's Folly!" Akina finished his sentence with glee.

"We might get to run the Belt!" Akina replied excitedly.

"You are running the Belt," Samar replied.

"And do what, fail spectacularly?" Fair laughed, as the group broke out into chatter.

Lando's Folly was famous in this region. The war hero, Lando Calrissian, had become the administrator of the planet a few years after the fall of the Empire. For over thirty years he's made a name for himself as one of the galaxy's most successful businessman. Dubrillion has been under his administration for most of those years, starting as a mining operation the asteroid belt known as Lando's Folly or "The Belt" was now a famous racing course. Pilots came from all over the Outer Rim would try to fly it, trying to last as long as they can in the field to get famous and try to run it for the thrills.

"Everyone grab your gear and meet me at the starboard airlock in twenty minutes. We'll be docking with Belt-Runner 1 and I'll explain everything else then."

The class dispersed and began making there way off the bridge. Akina looked back out the window before following Fair as they walked back to the turbolift.

"This is so cool! You don't suppose we'll actually see him?" Fair said excitedly.

"Let's get to the airlock and find out!" Akina was ready to finally get her wings and fly.

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As the Motherbird docked with Belt-Runner 1, Akina and Fair were already at the airlock door minutes before Samar and the others joined them. The station's halls were a pristine marble white, with sculptures and art adorning the utilitarian architecture. The workers and droids Akina saw walked about as if this luxury was just normal, which baffled her as the decor was more stunning than anything she'd ever seen. As they waited in the main lobby for the turbolift Akina looked around the large room. The first thing to catch her attention was a painting on the wall of a large umbrella-shaped ship, black against a giant star as it flew toward a planet. Another display was a curious model of what looked like a black boot with a hundred moving legs and little buildings jutting from the top, billowing holographic smoke as it walked in place on the table.

She rejoined the group as they all entered the turbolift. It shot up effortlessly, opening into a large circular lobby, skylights above looking into space with two levels and doorways opening into a dozen separate viewing rooms looking out at the asteroid belt. Spanning the two levels was a large scoreboard with the names of some of the best pilots in the galaxy. The list went up to nearly two hundred places with the longest times on the right side.

Moving along with the class, they entered one of the rooms facing directly at the course and walked down a small set of bleachers looking out at the belt like it was a racetrack. Above the window was a long viewscreen and on the left wall was a smaller blank scoreboard. Samar walked in front of the group and turned to face the class.

"Alright, everyone! For your final test, you will be running the Belt!"

"Yes!" Akina cheered and pumped her fist. The class erupted in chatter. Some were excited. Others expressed concern, and she even heard some say they didn't know what this place was. After a lengthy explanation to answer that question, Samar got to the point.

"Alright settle down. Now for the test, you'll all be flying in the belt around Dubrillion."

"How? You do know that's an asteroid field right? Well be pulverized." a recruit named Marvek asked.

From what Akina had heard he came from a Mid Rim recruitment by Gelstar. He was a very promising pilot from what she'd heard and seen when the simulations began. Not a very chatty guy but somehow he'd still managed to leave an impression.

As Samar turned to face the view screens, an astromech droid in the back of the room plugged into a socket and the room dimmed slightly. A projection of the course appeared in front of him and the screens flickered above, showing the view from cameras watching different parts of the track.

"The station projects a modified tractor beam that creates repulsor shielding to protect the fighters from any serious damage up to several thousand kilometers away from the station. If they didn't, I don't think they'd be using such rare ships for us to fly with."

The projection of the map disappeared and was replaced by a ship Akina had read about so many times. It was something of a shock to have the chance to finally see one. She moved towards the front to get a closer look at the projection.

"No way. That's a TIE Fighter right!? What kind?"

"The TIE Advanced x1. The administrator has three of them," Samar said, shaking his head with a smile.

"Three?! But they're so rare! " She was astonished. Among starship collectors, the TIE Advanced was a unique and famous ship.

"And we're going to fly these things? Aren't they super expensive?" Fair asked concerned.

"These things are tough. Even if all of the ion generators on the station go down, the shields would hold long enough for the tractor beams to pull you out," Samar reassured him.

"Now, if you'll turn your attention to the screen, we'll begin pairing you randomly in groups of three to compete. You get hit and lose control, I'll make the call and you're out"

"What counts as out? If these things are so safe how can we be knocked out?" Fair asked.

"Let's see you recover from an asteroid impact and stay flying. Sound fair enough?"

The class murmured and chuckled. Akina shook her head, smiling as she looked out at the distant field. It was a brownish-white color filled with dust, ice, gasses, and lots of big rocks. She'd heard what happened to spacers when trying to escape in asteroid fields. They didn't have long to regret it.

"You'll be flying in groups of three. If you can stay in control for fifteen to twenty minutes, you'll pass. Any more is extra credit. Anyone knocked out will get one more retry tomorrow. If you fail, I'll be talking with you later."

Samar looked up at the screen as the computer displayed the cadet roster. He went down the list, pairing off the groups.

"Ollen, Eskra, Eiling will be up first, the R5 unit will guide you there. Then Akina, Herdean, and Marvek are up next. Fair..."

As he went through the list, Akina felt pumped, hardly keeping herself from smiling. Her first real starship was going to be one of the rarest and most infamous ships in the galaxy. When the first group walked out, escorted by the droid to the hangar, she walked over to Samar.

"So Gelstar gets to train recruits here? I got the impression that this place was kinda for racing and... I've also heard they train smugglers for this kind of flying," Akina asked a bit worried.

"That's there privy to do so, but what better way to keep up with them? It's an honest deal, the Gelstar leadership managed to secure a deal with Administrator Calrissian that our ships would escort his convoys, and in exchange, we get training and funding."

"Sounds like a good deal, so why are we the first group going through this?" Akina asked.

"Yeah, we kinda took a while to get this deal settled. So you all are going to be the test subjects for making this our permanent finals for all future recruits. You up for the challenge?" Samar asked.

"You bet! My first real ship is going to be a TIE Advanced, this is almost a dream come true!" She beamed back at him.

Akina bit her lip as she looked at the monitors, watching the first group getting in the fighters. They all waited for them to get past the preflight checks and learn the controls. Eventually, the cadets began to spread about the room, then went out into the large lobby and some groups of friends went adjoining observation rooms. Akina and Fair wandered together, looking out one window after another before settling down on a bench in the main lobby.

In the central lobby Akina looked at the large scoreboard she saw coming in and started reading through the names of the best racers in the galaxy. Looking up at the number two spot she smiled.

"Han Solo, I guess that makes sense," Fair said to her.

Most people in the Outer Rim knew about the Kessel Run and Han Solo. He and Leia Organa were celebrities in the public eye even with the current state of the government. She spotted a few other names on the board. Marcus Speedstar, the Five Saber racer, was in the high fifties.

Surprising to see someone of such importance here. She thought to herself.

On the higher listings were a bunch of people she'd never heard of. She wondered what brought all these unknown people to this place and what they did that landed them that high on the list.

"Corran Horn… I've heard that name somewhere..."

Suddenly a soft signal noise went off overhead with a robotic voice announcing.

"The race will begin in thirty seconds. Return to your viewing center as we begin."

They both walked back, taking a seat near the windows as the ships were just lifting off on the view screens. Compared to what she'd read about in her father's journal about the flimsy massed produced ships, these TIEs looked like they could take a pounding. They shot straight out of the hanger, all three formed up side by side. Samar had a headset on as he told them where to go while flying. They shot forward fast, slowly turning into the starting area, a lighter part of the field from what was displayed on the screen, then turned left following the spin of the rings.

"You feel ready to ace this?" Fair asked beside her.

"Hardly. I never thought the final test would be so brutal." Akina said.

"What did you expect?" Fair asked.

"Well, I was imagining a dozen or more platforms with rings to fly though, while some laser cannons shot at me. That's how my dad's flight test went."

"Sounds easy by comparison. Now we get to play asteroid survivor. But I feel like we can make this, and old Steer is graciously giving us a second chance if we don't make it."

"We can handle this," Akina said confidently.

She watched as one of the pilots took a close turn around some fast-moving asteroids. The cadets were trying to turn side to side as they went in a straight line.

"I wonder if the weapons still work," she thought aloud.

They began moving towards an area early on were a few mining platforms were working on a large asteroid. From what she could tell the largest one was still running, while the surrounding platforms working the smaller asteroids were inactive.

They went wide around the stations and asteroids, passing through the smaller stations. When they came back into the lighter asteroids Akina noticed they seemed slow when turning. One of the three ships was just pelted by chunk after chunk. The other two broke ahead and began swerving to the side as asteroids knocked against each other, a shower of debris flew towards them as they two rocks drifted away from each other. The slower pilot flew side to side before taking a chunk and spiraling out of the field only five minutes in.

"Alright Eskra, hands off your controls. We're bringing you in on auto." Samar said holding his headset.

The TIE jerked then stopped spinning, before slowly moving back towards the station while the others kept going. Blowing through the rest of the stretch, the time clocked at fifteen at another pair of mining platforms before veering left back towards Belt-Runner 1, the other following behind.

Samar turned back to them. "Akina, Herdean, Marvek. Head on down to the hangar for when they come back in."

"Yes, sir!" All three stood up and saluted before heading to their hangar bay.

Akina put her helmet under her arm as they all took the turbolift down. There was only one TIE set down in the hangar as they approached and a cleaning droid passed them as they entered.

"Dibs on that one!" Herdean said, rushing to the ship.

Akina just admired it from a distance as they moved to look out the shield at the asteroid field.

"So your old Steer's favorite right? You think you can handle this?" Marvek asked beside her, hands in his pockets.

"Handle? Yes, but I'm really hoping all that flight time pays off and I don't lose my food like Eskra."

"Like Eskra?" He asked. Then Akina turned and pointed just as-

"Eww! It stinks in here!" Herdean said as he waved his hand in front of the open cockpit hatch.

"Why do you think that cleaning droid was in here?" She asked, struggling with the words as she laughed..

Marvek's face softened a little and he let out a chuckle with a grin. The two other TIEs soon flew in and the droids nearby rolled up exit ladders as they popped open. Ollen and Eiling climbed down and walked towards them.

"You're going to have fun out there! It's a rush!" Eiling said, his hands visibly trembling.

"I can see that. You alright?" Akina asked him.

"I'm alright. Just still a little shook from all the hits. Reminds me a little of a tornado the way it sounds hitting the ship," Eiling said as he clenched his fist, taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly.

"Good luck out there," Ollen said walking past with Eiling, giving him a friendly slug in the shoulder.

Akina walked to the TIE on the right and Marvek the one on the far left. The ship was still running as she climbed up, Akina ran her hand along the side of the round cockpit. It practically purred. She finished her climb and dropped into the pilot's seat.

She spent a minute bringing the flight controls up from standby mode, then she got a feel for the setup. The flight computer switched on, green light, thrusters engaged, and Akina flew out of the hangar into space.

The ship bucked a little with the takeoff as the tractor beam shielding gripped all three ships. They flew in formation, following the path designated by the flight computer. Akina pitched the ship side to side, getting a feel for its maneuverability.

"You're approaching the belt now; stand by to enter on my mark," Samar said over the comm.

"Copy that, we're standing by," Akina responded.

"Three... Two... One... Mark!"

All three ships shot forward then banked left into the field. The swing in felt heavy to Akina as she tried to fight the ship to turn faster. Looking out at the small asteroids and her two wingmen, she decided to wait till they were distracted before testing to see if the weapons still worked. They closed in on the first station. Despite the big chunks of rock surrounding this area, she decided to try her luck flying through it.

The ship went faster than her X-Wing in the simulator, racing through the rocks and platforms without a hitch. Looking down at her scanners, she saw the other two moving back into the field after noticing she didn't take the wide turn that the others did.

Next up was the first large asteroid. The other two were gaining fast but she had enough room to test if the weapons were functional. Pulling up and skimming along its cratered surface, she squeezed down on the triggers and felt the ship pulse as green laser bolts shot out in front of her canopy into a rocky outcropping. Akina adjusted the scopes for mid-range targeting as she came out over the top. It must have been longer than going from the sides because as she came down she was side by side with Marvek and Herdean.

"Thanks for giving us time to catch up!" Herdean said over the comm.

"All the easier for you eat my space dust," Akina said, kicking in the throttle and driving the TIE forward.

"Plenty to go around!" Marvek retorted, doing the same.

All three ships now began jockeying for the lead. Moving past the heavier, jagged asteroids, Akina kept control by doing small spins to maneuver around close targets, expertly compensating for the slow turn rate. Marvek, trying to copy her, weaved up and down rather than side to side, diving and turning around the larger rocks that collided around him.

He's got some skills. Akina glanced over as he corkscrewed away from a collision, recovering and taking the lead from her. Herdean meanwhile was right behind her.

"Hey, Marvek! Mind giving me a hand?" Herdean asked over the open comm.

Akina looked just in time to see him knock an asteroid with the side of his ship, sending it spiraling her way.

"That how it's going to be?" She smirked as she juked past the rock. Herdean came up alongside her.

They closed in on another large asteroid. Marvek went left and she tried to line up a shot, adjusting her scopes and prepared to drop the safeties. Just then Herdean came in from under her wing and sent her into a spiral. She slammed the thrusters into the spiral and shot towards the asteroid, Herdan on her tail. They skimmed the surface as she ducked down into the craters, narrowly avoiding another ram maneuver. Akina looked ahead for something-anything-to knock him back so she could get back in the race for first. Ahead she spotted some sharp cliffs and jagged slopes. Judging the size of them and where her wings were, she came down low and throttled hard at them. He didn't seem to be paying attention to anything except her so she let him close in, weaving side to side as she closed in on the crater slope. As soon as he nosed in on her left, she juked into him, flipping him over and sending him tumbling into the cliff face. Hardean hit hard, his fighter bouncing off the surface.

"Told you," Akina said over the comm, speeding back up as Herdean mumbled angrily into his muted mic...

Akina finally caught up with Marvek, who had decided to pleasure cruise while she and Herdean duked it out. He quickly picked up speed as they approached a dense clump of big asteroids, the space between them shrinking. Akina was forced to focus on maneuvering. She kept her gaze straight ahead, going up and over the rocks. Glancing over at her scanner to navigate through the ever-changing maze, she noticed the second set of platforms. Keeping her focus tight she barely felt the sweat on her body as her hands gripped the controls. Suddenly her ship shuddered, snapping her out of focus to notice Herdean blasting through the asteroids behind her.

"Hey guys! The guns still work!" He exclaimed gleefully over the comm.

"Blast that idiot! Give up already!" Akina grit her teeth and kicked her thrusters back to full as her computer beeped, warning her of the enemy target lock.

Maybe she could outdistance him before he could catch up, but he refused to let her off easy. Everything behind her and anything in front she could maneuver through as cover turned to glass as his shots glanced her shield. Akina spotted Marvek far off to her right, still keeping ahead of them.

"Oh no you don't," she said to herself, spinning to her right and adjusting her scopes. Time to bring the pain to him, and with any luck, she could shake Herdean while she was at it.

Making a beeline to Marvek as they flew toward the mining platforms, Akina fired some shots but they went right past him. Herdean was slowly closing in behind her. Looking for another out she curved left and shot several asteroids ahead, then pulled up as the chunks flew towards her. Herdean's shots went wild as he was pelted by debris. She snickered as he crashed-again-into a small platform.

Akina set her sights back on Marvek. He wasn't that far ahead of her, and a smile crossed her lips as she closed in. Pushing down on the trigger she hit his backside knocking him off course and slowing him down. He tried to lose her by moving deeper into the field but she matched his every move. Then suddenly her ship was rocked from an explosion and she saw Herdean spinning out of the field on her display, as it lit up with red circles.

"Watch out you two! There's a bunch of loose mining charges heading your way!" Herdean warned them as he was pulled back towards the station.

Marvek seemed to slow down ahead of her. Almost as if on cue, she saw a metal object fly past her canopy, then another. Looking down at her instruments she saw fifty incoming projectiles behind her.

"Move it Marvek! These things are coming right for us!" Akina said, stepping down on the pedals and pushing the TIE as hard as she could.

Ahead of them, the asteroid field was dense with more rocks colliding around their ships. Two large rocks behind them took several mining charges in their place and the debris flew behind in every direction. More started going off behind them, and Akina and Marvek could barely keep ahead of the oncoming wave. Akina gave up looking at her scope and kept her attention straight on, ignoring everything around her as she dodged rocky debris. Just going and going until she finally heard Samar talking in her ear.

"Akina! Akina do you read?"

She came back to her senses and looked at her controls. Just then she felt her ship lurch out of her control before slowly coming to a stop. Then she has jolted again as the tractor beam pulled her back to Belt-Runner 1.

"Samar? I'm still here. How's Marvek?"

"He's fine. We got him aboard five minutes ago. You just kept going even after outrunning the last of the explosions from the charges. You've got some real determination."

Akina looked over at her chronometer. It read thirty-four minutes. She'd been focusing on dodging the asteroids so hard she'd forgotten she could have pulled out of the field.

"Herdean did for a long while. Did we all pass then sir?" She asked him.

"Up and over the line. Now if you blew up one of those mining platforms then I'd have had to hold your hides for the Administrator. But looks like all you've done is helped the miners speed up the job at this point."

"Got it, sir. I'll be in'n a bit." Akina smiled.

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The TIE touched down in the hangar and she took off her helmet. Akina slowly climbed out and then down the ladder, patting the side of the round TIE cockpit before dropping onto the floor. She trembled as the adrenalin wore off. The deck plates felt wobbly underneath her as she got to the doorway, and she stopped at the entrance to catch her breath.

"You alright?" Fair asked across the hall, as he and the next group walked from the turbolift.

"Yeah, I'm just... guess I'm still a little dizzy from the impact." Akina pulled herself back to her senses.

"Well, you sure had a crazy time out there. See you on the other side!"

Fair and the rest rushed to the ships as Akina made her way to the turbolift. Arriving back in the lobby, she sat down to watch Fair and the other pilots race.

Their flight was a lot smoother than hers. Fair took full advantage of the working weapons to keep the other two in front of him until he shot past them at the last minute.

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The next day there were two retests. Akina spent her morning in droid repair, repairing a small repulsorlift crane while waiting for the call to find out the test results. When the class was finally called together, Samar congratulated everyone present on passing. They got updated assignment information on their datapads and then came the big moment: assignment to the squadrons they'd train under. The squadron commanders stationed aboard the Motherbird called out names one by one with boxes at the side of their desks. Akina was handed her squadron patch by commander Edric Corsan, a tall, older man with a short white beard and grey-white hair which contrasted sharply with his dark blue flight suit.

"Welcome to the Striking Sapphires Miss Kracksn. Glad to have you with us." Edric's voice was as gruff as his age-worn appearance. He shook her hand.

"Glad to be here sir." She gave him a firm shake and a quick nod.

"I've heard good things about you. I'll make you as good as your father by the end. You might even get better than me."

"Yes, sir," Akina replied.

Striking Sapphire Squadron was recently renamed from Blue Squadron, after helping to take out an ore smuggling racket. Most squadrons didn't have designations other than colors but those who did were the aces of a task force. Apparently, Samar thought she was ready for more.

Edric was a real leader from what she'd heard in the shops and one of Gelstar's best pilots.

Akina looked down at the squadron patch in her hand as she walked through the doorway.

"Congratulations!" Fair sounded anxious, and she was curious why.

"We made it," Akina said.

"Hard to believe. Feels like just yesterday we came aboard."

"Where'd you get assigned?"

"Green Squadron, appropriately enough. Along with Marvek and Ollen. You got to join with the Strikers right?" He asked.

"Honestly I still can't get over it. It still feels like the pressure is really on my shoulders," Akina said, sighing as the two started walking.

"When are we getting assigned ships?" Akina looked to Fair as he lifted his datapad in response.

"Looks like we have a sort of orientation tomorrow before lunch. We're gonna be leaving Dubrillion later today after our celebration," Fair said.

"What kind of food do you think they'll have?" Akina asked.

"It's a restaurant of some kind, but I think it's more of a fast-food place," Fair replied.

"A fast-food restaurant? Sounds like a nice change of pace from mess hall food." Akina licked her lips as she thought about it.

"There's a shuttle will heading down in fifteen from the station. The location is on the pad. I'll see you there!" Fair said.

"We bringing Erkan?" She asked as he went down a different corridor.

"Assuming he's not got plans? Sure! I'll ask him!"

"See you later!"


	6. Chapter 6

Akina looked out the lounge window as the Motherbird left Dubrillion, the station shrinking from view before disappearing into the blue swirl of hyperspace. She spent the next few hours next to it, reading a murder mystery holonovel she'd been putting off. She sighed, for the past few weeks most of her time had been eaten up by her classes, and now that they were done with Lando's Folly she finally had some time to herself. Akina reclined in her chair, feeling a heavy weight lifting from her shoulders and reading through several chapters before returning to her quarters. There was no sign of her roommate when she got back to her room. She was probably spending the night with her friends. Switching on some soft music she closed out her day and drifted to sleep.

That morning she placed her squadron patch onto her flight suit. Doing her lessened daily duties she enjoyed as much of her quiet morning as she could. Then in the evening went to the pilot ready room for what was labeled as orientation on her datapad. As she entered, she saw a dozen other pilots clad in flight suits gathered in a circle. Akina shuffled to her seat. She was the only one from her class, and surrounded by her peers she felt a little nervous. There were a few familiar faces from her time in the droid shop, but apart from that, she didn't recognize anybody. She straightened in her chair as Commander Edric walked in.

"Alright, everybody. Let's get to business."

The room fell silent. Everyone sat down as he moved in front of a large viewscreen at the head of the table.

"First on the agenda, I'd like to congratulate Akina Kracksn on making it to the big leagues," Edric said, gesturing to her with an open hand before turning to the man seated on his left. Akina could only give an awkward smile in response.

"Lieutenant Commander Howfer will be acting as your supervisor, he'll help you get set up in your fighter after the briefing."

"Good to see you again Akina." Howfer said to her.

"Hows 3D? Keeping you out of trouble?" Akina asked, getting a few laughs from the other pilots.

"That droid has kept you and Garret out of trouble more times than I can count." One pilot said.

"We're a team, Reves. Besides Garret still needs 3D to help keep him from losing another ship."

Howfer retorted with a look to the man who sat across from him.

"Hey! 3D being in there when it was stolen was all part of the plan!" Garret said, a wounded look on his face.

"Alright everyone, now onto the matter of the day." Edric cut in and stepped to the side as the lights dimmed and the viewscreen came on.

"In an hour we will be arriving in the Sartinaynian system and meeting up with taskforce fourteen, the Nebulon-C Acoster and its escorts. With our fresh meat needing experience, we'll be taking them out today. X-Wings from Green squadron and Red Squadron will fly a patrol over Sartinaynian while we rendezvous with six X-Wings from the Acoster on the surface. Highlander Squadron and all of us will fly escort for the mission."

The display changed, switching from a map of flight paths over the planet to three X-Wing icons moving information towards a marker that looked like a space station beside five other box icons.

"Recently, as some of you may already know, a small fleet started raiding shipping along the Braxant Run. Whoever they are, they've spent a month evading our patrols and getting away with cargo. However, we finally have the bait to catch them. For the past week, we have been deliberately leaking information about a large shipment of stockpile ore from Dubrillion, and our latest leak just indicated it will be redirected with a limited escort through Rimcee Station while we protect the main shipping lanes. Our flotilla will lie in wait one jump point away while a convoy of five bulk freighters proceeds to Rimcee station. Three squadrons, including us, will be flying escort for them while the Motherbird, Acoster, and the Assault Frigate Partisan will be lying in wait to catch these raiders."

"Quick question, who are these raiders then?" Akina asked, raising her hand like she was in class.

"From the markings on the bow of the ships they appear to be from a group known as the 'Night Fangs'. They're a group that operates parties of small raiding fleets across the galaxy. Recently small-time factions appear to be taking sides and squabbling over territory. We believe these pirates could be operating on behalf of a larger group, but we won't know that for sure until we have prisoners." Edric explained.

"Ten cruise ships destroyed, five cargo shipments, one million credits worth of ore, and forty-six deaths because of these thugs. It will be good to finally nail these guys." Howfer said the others nodded in agreement.

"Our most up to date reports all indicate the Night Fangs have nothing bigger than an Interceptor IV Frigate. When we do engage their forces, we need to tie them up as best we can until our reinforcements arrive. We need to disable as many ships as we can, but protecting the convoy is our top priority. The frigates and corvettes will screen the freighters when they arrive, while more fighters will help us focus fire on their engines and weapons hardpoints. That is all."

Edric finished and the lights came back on. Akina got a few pats on the shoulder as everyone got up and started walking out. Edric walked over to his second in command.

"Howfer if you'll take care of getting Akina ready, we'll meet you down on the surface."

"Not going to wait for us?" Howfer asked.

"No, we're going to refuel our ships on the surface to spare our stores here on the ship. The mechanics are getting antsy about our usage lately and chief Hargrove made a point of how we could just refuel on the planets we go to."

Edric looked over Howfers shoulder at Akina.

"Keep an eye on her will ya? Lots of the higher-ups are looking forward to her getting into the field. Her father had a lot of friends."

"Including you sir?" Howfer asked.

Edric smiled. His gaze was distant as if in recollection.

"Kenth was. Here's hoping she turns out to be as good as he was."

"Yes, sir. I'll see you down there." Howfer replied, scooping up his helmet and walking around the table to Akina.

"So how will the pirates know this isn't a trap?" Akina asked Howfer as they were walking.

"Garret had the same concerns when we were planning this. Our first attempt to trap them was thwarted because they ran off. From how they seem to attack, we assume they have a slicer reading high profile transmissions on one of those ships. They probably picked up our transmissions."

"How did you plan this all then?" She asked.

"We've been using squadrons out on patrol as couriers, to send messages directly instead of over long distance calls. The others will be landing to give the freighters the message to launch. The shipping company is supposed to send an encrypted message to Rimcee station as the bait."

"Wow, that's pretty cool."

They stopped and Akina pressed the call button for a turbolift.

"It's a lot of old school tactics that these groups tend to forget about, that's how we keep ahead. Taking advantage of their ignorance." Howfer said with a smirk.

"How long do you expect that to work? I mean someone's gotta figure this out eventually." Akina asked.

"By then we should have something more original. But right now we need to get out there. First, is requisitioning an astromech for your fighter." He said as they stepped into the turbolift.

"So how does that work? Do we get our own individual droids or is one assigned to a certain ship or to a person?" Akina asked as they began moving towards the back of the ship.

"To an individual, part of company policy after the war. Most bought their droids or took them with their ships after the peace. Those that didn't were sold off across the galaxy or kept in service. When we started, there were only enough droids for only one pilot, some brought their own from home. So now droids are assigned to individuals in that same spirit, but that can change depending on the circumstances."

Akina nodded as he explained.

"What are our options then? I know we have some T-70s in the fleet. Do we have-"

"No, we don't have any of those BB units. Too expensive, and are difficult to find replacement parts for." He sounded rather irritated about the droids.

"Don't like them I take it?" She asked him.

"Not one bit. Because of how successful they were, they never released the R6 Series, and now the whole of Industrial Automaton started trying to replace the astromechs with those annoying eggs."

"I guess. They're supposed to be cute right? That's what I've heard from some merchants and pilots back at home." Akina said, before getting an emotional response from Howfer.

"Cute but not too bright. From what I know the R6 could have stored twelve hyperspace coordinate sets and been very similar to the R2 if not better. Imagine it, the R2 with all the updated tech and would have been less expensive because of the base design. Instead, we got those little things running around. Who knows where that design could have gone. I'm glad we're sticking with the classics around here." Howfer finished.

"Not much choice, but that sounds disappointing," Akina said. She had more of an affection for the older droids.

"I'd love to see one of those things just try to climb up a set of stairs. As a droid enthusiast of course." Howfer said before the doors opened.

Punching in their codes they walked to a desk with a terminal. Akina sat down as he explained the process of requisitioning a droid. She put her helmet on the floor and looked through all the units available, then noticed one familiar number.

"Sir, this astro droid R4-L4 is from my maintenance job. Why is he classified as a pilot droid?" Akina asked.

"Huh, lemme take a look" He pressed a few keys to bring up its record.

"It was a donated unit. It's an older production model but its got extensive modifications. Wow, its specs are just as good as an R2 unit. But because of the head shape, it was deemed an easy target and put with all other R4 units as maintenance droids. Strange, I wonder what it was used for with all those upgrades?"

"Could I use him?" Akina asked with a hopeful smile.

"I know you two are close, but I'll have to check his status. If you did they'd have to replace the droid and have it cleared for transfer. I think it would be best if you used another for now." Howfer said.

"Alright." She went back to looking, picked an R2 unit then scooped up her helmet.

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Akina and Howfer walked out to the hangar doors and punched in. Beside them, the two droid lifts opened up and their astromechs rolled out. R3-3D rolled up, all pristine with red and gold highlights along its white body. Then came R2-C2, Akina's droid, sporting a simple white body with light green colors.

"Hello C2, I'll take good care of you," Akina said, patting the droid on the dome.

The droid beeped rather plainly, seeming rather apathetic to her greeting.

"Come on." She gestured to the door and C2 followed her into the bay.

Several ships lined the hangar, with various squadron colors on the wings, and the Gelstar logo branded just below the cockpit. The deck officer walked up to Howfer. The two conversed in a hurry before he turned back to Akina.

"Everyone else is already down on the surface?" Akina asked Howfer as he walked with her.

"Yes, once we head out the fleet is going to jump ahead for the ambush. We'll be heading down to refuel our ships then escort the freighters. Your callsign is Strike-12, mine is Strike-2, the rest are one through eleven and are going to fly escort in three pairs of six X-Wings." Howfer explained to her as they walked.

The X-Wings were on the far left of the bay as they hurried along in full flight gear, the droids trying to keep up behind them. Transport speeders ran about as mechanics and maintenance droids were busy at work. Ahead was her ship, a standard T-65 X-Wing with the Gelstar logo and a blue trim along the grey body and wings. She climbed up the ladder and sat down in the cockpit.

"Follow me out of the hangar Strike-12, then form up on my wing," Howfer said.

"Copy that Strike-2." Akina gave him a thumbs up and a smile as he jogged to his ship. She took her X-Wing out of standby mode, the screens and controls lighting up as the systems came online. A mechanical arm whirred behind her as R2-C2 was lowered into the socket behind her. The cockpit sealed shut around her as she fastened into her seat.

In her excitement, she grabbed up her helmet. Her mind rushing back to childhood, playing pilot with the other kids in school. Now she looked down at the helmet where the Alliance symbol would have gone and sighed in resignation when she instead felt the shape of the Gelstar logo.

"You reading me back there C2?"

Akina asked her astromech, and though she heard nothing the monitor to her left spurted out text. The message was a clear affirmative. If the droid had beeped outside the cockpit had blocked the sound.

A few short pre-flight checks and Akina received the signal for take-off. The hangar sank down around her as the fighter ascended. She pressed the button to retract the landing gear, and when the indicator shut off she turned towards the hangar doors and gently pushed the ship forward. Once she'd passed through the force-field out into space she throttled the X-Wing forward at full speed.

"Nice takeoff Strike-12." A voice sounded in her ear. It was Samar, probably observing her first assignment.

"Thank you, sir, am I being graded?" She asked.

"Always. But that's not up to me anymore. Good luck out there." He replied.

"I'll see you when I get back sir. Striker-12 out." Akina smiled as she flew past the Acoster. The planet Sartinaynian loomed ahead of them just under the ships.

It's cities glowing below as traffic flowed up and down from its surface past the customs station in orbit. They flew down using the security lanes, designated for executive and police craft, into the capital city of Ravelin. The skyline was filled with towers of old palaces, skyscrapers, and large hills off to the north. They maneuvered to a sunk-in landing area, a large trench inlaid with multiple hangers. She turned her X-Wing over then down onto a landing pad near a long landing strip atop the hanger area. Sitting in a neat row nearby were five BFF-1 bulk freighters. Being loaded on either side into large trapezoidal cargo containers on each side of the rectangular drive section.

"Glad you could join us Strike-2. They're almost done loading the cargo." A female voice sounded from the comm.

Akina looked out to see the pilot waving at them as they came to land. As soon as she touched down to refuel droids swarmed her fighter to service it.

"Copy that Strike-6, good to see you too. How long do you suppose it will be till they're ready Saana?" Howfer replied.

The cockpit on Howfer's X-Wing hissed as it opened. He was already halfway down the ladder when Akina followed.

"Maybe another thirty minutes. That the new girl?" Saana asked as she walked up to their ships.

"That's me," Akina replied as she crawled down the ladder and offered her hand for Saana to shake.

"Saana Rever, nice to meet you Akina. Enjoying your first day?" She asked, taking off her helmet to reveal her ginger hair.

"Oh yeah. A bit nervous flying again but I feel ready." Akina assured.

"Where's Edric at?" Howfer asked Saana.

"Over at the control tower with the other squadron leaders and freighter captains. Everyone else is sitting around in their ships waiting for takeoff." Saana said, then turned to Akina.

"Enjoying the view?" She asked.

Akina looked out over the cityscape. "Yeah. It is such a big city. I don't think there's anything this big on Gelda."

"Well, this place is the sector capital of the Braxant Sector. The governor who lived here wanted his domain to feel special. Lots of building work of this sort was done for most capital planets during the time of the Empire. You can tell that just by the architecture." Saana responds. Akina was intrigued.

"Is history your hobby?" She asked Saana.

"My family works in construction, but yeah kind of. You pick up a few things, especially the history of the places you work when you're flying all over the galaxy. It's good to get to know about the places you're helping keep safe." Sanna answered.

Behind them, the landing crews pulled away from their two X-Wings after the refueling finished. Saana got a call on her comm. The other pilots, Kavan and Carnan, gave them a heads up that Edric and the other flight commanders just left the control tower.

"Five minutes to liftoff. All pilots prepare for takeoff." A voice echoed from nearby speakers.

Saana, Howfer, and Akina jumped back in their cockpits and began the preflight startup. Akina looked ahead as the other ships' engines came to life.

"All wings report in," Edric ordered.

"This is Strike-7, standing by," Kavan replied.

"Strike-3 standing by," Carnan answered.

"Strike-6 standing by," Saana replied.

"Strike-12 standing by," Akina said.

"Strike Leader to all wings, from up on my six and follow me up," Edric said.

"Copy that sir," Howfer replied.

The X-Wings lifted off from the pad and formed into three wedges. The squadrons followed the freighters into orbit, flanking the ships as they spread out and began calculating the jump to lightspeed.

"All ships, prepare to make the jump to hyperspace on my mark," Edric said. Akina eyed the button, waiting for the order.

"Three. Two. One. Mark!"

As the ships around her jumped forward, Akina pressed the button. The stars turned into lines and then her canopy blurred into the blue light of hyperspace.

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The ships dropped out of hyperspace in the Rimcee system and proceeded to the station at sublight speed.

"Rimcee Station, this is the fighter Rut Trader of the Baobab convoy. We are on approach. Estimated arrival in thirty minutes." The captain of the lead freighter's broadcast was on an open channel, so while it was directed at the station Akina could hear it.

"This is flight control Rut Trader. You are cleared for the approach."

"Alright, everybody. Stay alert." Edric said.

Akina blinked out the blue sky from her eyes. They'd been in flight for a couple of hours, through several jumps as they traveled through a number of hyperspace beacons to reach the station.

"You awake over there Striker-12?" Saana asks over the comm.

"Barely. I always fall asleep in the hovercar rides when I go out of town with my mom. I think it's the hum of the engine." Akina replied.

"Well try not to fall asleep. Makes it harder when you wake up to focus on getting into a fight right off the bat." Kavan interjected.

"Eh Kaven, remember back during training when you fell asleep in the simulator after midterms?" Carnan responded.

"Steer called me Cadet Snore for weeks. Finally glad I lived that down." Kavan replied.

"Oh, we'll come up with something I'm sure, Lieutenant Snore," Saana said amused.

Akina smiled as she heard his sigh from the comm. Akina glanced down at her chronometer and checked her scanners as they progressed closer and closer to Rimcee Station. There was no activity. The convoy was quiet in anticipation but the freighters arrived at the station without a hitch.

"I don't get it. Was the message transmitted?" Howfer said.

"It damn well should have been," Kavan said.

"Rimcee Station, this is Strike Leader. You picking up anything." Edric asked.

"Negative Strike Leader. We aren't picking up anything on long-range scanners."

"Looks like they didn't take the bait then," Edric said.

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The freighters had finished docking five minutes ago. Now in the process of unloading, Anina tapped her foot against the floor of the cockpit. She finished another rotation as the squadrons continued circling the station. Suddenly the idle chatter was interrupted with urgent news.

"Strike Leader, this is Rimcee Control. We just picked up a live distress transmission on an encrypted emergency frequency. It was running on an old Imperial code so we managed to run it through our computers and decrypted it. Patching it through now."

"-Again this is the freighter Mercator! We're under attack! We-." The transmission turned to static.

"The signal has just been jammed." The flight controller reported.

"That must be them. Have you triangulated the source of the transmission?" Edric asked.

The flight controller acknowledged. C2 beeped the updated jump coordinates to Akina.

"Transmit a signal to the fleet and relay them the distress call. Tell them to rendezvous with us at those coordinates. We're going ahead to give them some help." Edric said.

"Copy that. We'll also send the all-clear phrase back to Sartinaynian to let them know the shipment arrived safely. Good luck Strike Leader. Rimcee Station out."

"All ships prepare for combat, come about and prepare to make the jump to lightspeed." Edric said.

All X-Wings turned away from the station and began forming up.

"Sir, These coordinates put us fairly deep into Wild Space." Carnan said.

"How far in?" Kavan asked back.

"Only a few light-years. But it is still uncharted space." Carnan replied.

Akina grimaced. Wild Space was a very treacherous territory to be flying into. Many spacers had lost their lives trying to map it or even just to outrun the law. Few who ventured past it into the Unknown Regions ever returned. Now the noses of Sapphire Strike Squadron were pointed right towards that area of space.

"Strike Leader this is Highlander Leader. We're in position. Ready on your mark." The other squadron commanders' voice came in.

"All fighters! Jump!" Edric ordered.

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The ships dropped out of lightspeed at the edge of a lifeless star system. A white dwarf stood quiet vigil over the barren planets.

"Sir, picking up multiple contacts ahead. I'm reading five Star Galleon-class freighters and four Interceptor IV frigates." Kavan said.

"You kidding? Why did they send out a distress call? This shouldn't even be a fight." Saana said.

"Those freighters should have three times the firepower of those pirate ships. Why are they-"

Howfer was cut off as Akina's display began blaring alarms.

"Incoming! Multiple incoming projectiles!" Akina shouted.

"Missiles! Everyone scatter!" Edric ordered.

A barrage of missiles came flying toward them. Akina pulled up, shunting weapon power to engines to get clear before they detonated. The missiles flew off into the distance behind her as she leveled her fighter again.

"Everyone alright?" Howfer asked.

"Still here sir," Kavan replied.

"Looks like we're all still in one piece," Saana said.

"Strike Leader this is Highlander Leader. Highlander-4 caught a glimpse of where those missiles came from. Looks like they have ships hiding in the asteroid field."

"We better deal with them first before the fleet arrives. Looks like those ships were ambushed when they arrived. Probably knocked out most of their weapon systems." Edric said.

"All wings form up and move in," Howfer said for the commander.

"Reading multiple incoming contacts breaking off from the battle zone. Enemy fighters closing in." Carnan alerted.

"Alright. Let's clear a path through the battle zone and take the heat off those freighters at the same time." Edric said.

"Switch shields to double front, lock S-foils in attack position," Howfer ordered.

Akina opened her ship's wings and followed behind him as all ships began moving towards the dueling frigates. A squadron of slow Rihkxyrk assault fighters came right at them, a salvo of lasers and missiles struck the X-Wings as they went in full throttle.

"This is them all right! I can see the teeth on 'em from here!" Kavan said.

The old pirate fighters were renowned for their defensive and weapons loadout. But these ships were past their prime. The combined fire of all the X-Wings blasted down their shields and the squadron blasted past those sent to greet them. Giving a fly-by past the bow of a Star Galleon as they strafed a pirate frigate closing in for the kill.

"Any sign of those ships?" Howfer asked.

"Negative Strike-2. Scanners having a hard time with all the-" Saana broke off.

"Contact! This is Highlander-9, two ships at mark two-ten! Looks like a pair of old Broadside-class cruisers."

"All wings move to engage them!" Edric ordered.

Akina brought her ship into the field, coming up on the cruiser's starboard side. The ship began slowly turning, hoping to bring its weapons to bear. But the Gelstar X-Wings were already on top of it and its shields were swarmed within seconds. The ship exploded and its magazine debris bounded against the other ships' shields, it shared the same fate as its twin. Cheers from the other pilots came from the comm.

"Let's go to deal with the rest before more company arrives," Saana said.

"Copy that!" Akina said.

They came out of the field behind the pirate frigates and began firing at their engines. The ships' turbolasers turned from their helpless prey to attack the fighters swarming them. Akina watched as a flash of laser fire clipped the wing of a nearby X-Wing and it spiraled out of formation. Kavan moved to cover him as another pirate fighter squadron began closing in.

"How long till help gets here?" Akina asked.

"A few more minutes! Hang in there! You're doing great Akina." Howfer said.

Akina clenched her teeth as she flew under one of the pirate frigates. Redistributing her shields back to normal and moving to get a clear shot on one of the fighters. The feeling of flying like this was different than in the simulator or the test. A real fight, a real actual fight, where even just one wrong move could mean her death. Her chest was tight with anxiety as she tried to lock onto the fighter, her fellow pilots' lives were at stake with every second they fought. She squeezed down on the trigger and watched the pirate's ship explode in a ball of flame as the gas and oxygen were ignited by the plasma of her blaster bolts. Akina pulled alongside another X-Wing, trying to push through this feeling.

"Strike-12, this is Strike-2, follow me for a pass at those engines," Howfer said.

"Right with you sir!" Akina said reflexively.

Their passes slowly made the pirate freighter's shields grow weaker. The combined fire of the Gelstar X-Wings got a reprieve when one of the Star Gallions opened fire. The ships were still able to fight. The Storm Fangs knew they lost and began turning tail.

"Focus all fire on those engines!" Edric orders seemed to ring in her ears.

Akina loosed her Proton Torpedoes into the backside of the frigate along with another five X-Wings. The backside lurched from the multiple impacts and the ship continued drifting forward, the sublight engines flickered and dimmed and the ship continued forward on inertia alone. Beside her, another frigate went down and sputtered out of the fight.

"That's two!" Saana cheered.

"This is Highlander Leader! All enemy fighters neutralized!"

"All fighters converge on the last three ships! Don't let them get away!" Edric said.

Just as he gave the order, Akina spotted the flicker of pseudo motion as ships exiting hyperspace.

"Look, everyone! Help's finally here!" Akina said.

"Attention all Night Fang vessels. This is Commodore Darkan of the Gelstar assault frigate Partisan, cut your engines and prepare to be boarded."

The pirate ships ignored the captain's warning and began turning away from them. The Acoster and the Motherbird began launching fighters, while the Partisan began firing. The six escorting CR90 Corvettes and four DP-20 gunships rushed ahead to cut them off. Managing to cripple one of the ship's engines before the other two made the jump to lightspeed.

"Good job Strike Leader. You, Sapphire Strike, and Highlander Squadron won the day." Commodore Darkan said.

"All in a day's work sir. Those frigates took heavy fire sir, and I've got pilots adrift out here." Edric said.

"Recovery teams are already being prepped. Thanks again for your assistance Commander. Return to the Motherbird for debriefing. We'll take it from here."

"Copy that. All ships we're heading back to the nest." Edric said.

Akina turned away from the drifting frigate and flew back towards the Motherbird. She sat back in her chair with a sigh as the S-foils closed outside. This had been a very eventful first day.

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Sir our systems are coming back online!"

Captain Gage wiped his brow at the sound of the comm officers' report and stood up from his command chair. The rest of the Mercator's bridger crew was still busy trying to get the fire on the weapons console under control.

"Good! See if Chief Ransom can fire our concussion missiles manually. We've got to drive these pirate slags off of us!"

"Captain! Readings show all the pirate ships have retreated." The helmsman said.

"What!? How?" Captain Gage said.

"Sensors are still buggy from those Conner nets. But I'm reading multiple ships around us."

"Thank the maker. Get me a damage report and tell Ransom to focus on getting this ship moving again. Commander Drexa will want us to begin offloading as soon as we can." Gage said.

"Yes, sir. Uh, Captain, those ships are transmitting judicial transponder codes. I think the local authorities picked up our distress call instead of him."

Captain Gage groaned in annoyance. "Great. Just what we need to put us behind schedule."

He could see all the data work that this was going to cause. The repairs from all the damage we're already going to put them out of a commission, not reaching the rendezvous on time would only make matters worse. If they weren't killed trying to finish the delivery, of course.

"Blast it! Open a channel to the lead ship!" Gage said.

"They're already hailing us, sir." The helmsman replied.

"Just put it up on the screen kid," Gage said sternly.

The helmsman nodded and bridge viewscreen flickered on. The view of the other freighters ahead was replaced by a man dressed in an officer's uniform.

"I'm Commodore Darkan of Gelstar Security. Flag officer of the Partisan and the 14th taskforce."

"Captain Gage of the Kuat-Entralla freighter Mercator. You have my thanks, we were beginning to think no one heard our distress call." Gage said.

"It was sheer luck that the station we were at picked up your distress call. What's your status captain?" The Commodore asked.

"We haven't been able to get a full damage report yet. But we've lost over half our turbolasers and the shields are barely holding. If you could spare some engineers-"

"I'll send over some maintenance droids along with what men I can spare. Also, could you explain why you were transmitting on old imperial channels?" Darkan asked.

"This ship is an old imperial hauler. This thing has been kept from the scrapyard by necessity. It's been retrofitted over the years to keep up to specs but we still have the occasional glitch. Guess the system must have turned over to older codes while we were under fire." Gage replied.

"I see. It's very good we picked it up regardless. We've been hunting these particular pirates for weeks. We actually were waiting for them in another system as part of a sting operation. Can you tell me why these pirates went for your ship?" Darkan asked.

"The components we're carrying are quite valuable, but only if you're looking for sensor packages and have an interest in mapping star systems. We were running a shipment to a new deep space telemetry station. Other ships have been running supplies to it for the past few months. We're the last run before its operational." Gage said.

"If the pirates knew about your cargo they probably know about your destination."

"Well, this isn't where we were supposed to come out of hyperspace sir. We're a grid off." The helmsman said.

"How far off?" Darkan asked before Gage could stop the kid from talking.

"We should have come out in Grid I-3 but were at the edge of J-4. Closest mapped area is the Kadok Regions." The helmsman said.

"The Night Fangs in the past have reprogrammed navigation buoys to redirect ships off course. A similar incident occurred when their slicer rigged a buoy to drop a cruise liner into the path of an Ion Storm then robbed the ship. They must have found out about your run first before ours and planned to sell off your equipment." Darkan surmised.

Gage saw Darkan frown on the monitor. Apparently not comfortable with them just continuing on their way.

"A good question sir. But I'm just a delivery man, I go where I'm told and the company pays me. And I have to get this cargo delivered or my crew isn't going to get paid." Gage said, but he could tell it wasn't enough.

"Agreed. We'll accompany you to this station of yours."

"I appreciate the gesture but you'll need the men to take care of those pirate ships."

"I'll be leaving some of our corvettes and security details to guard them while a prison barge is called in. In the meantime, we are going to escort you."

"Commodore, I must insist that you not try and interfere with our business-"

"No, you listen to me, Captain." Commodore Darkan cut him off.

"Your weapons are damaged, your shields are failing, you're heading deeper into Wild Space, and in the state you're in you couldn't send another distress call. I don't care if you don't trust authority, but we're out here to keep people like you safe. Do you want to make it back home alive or not Captain?" Darkan asked.

Gage gave a grimace, looking around the bridge at his crew. All this effort would be wasted if the authorities found out what they were doing. They couldn't afford to lose the credits.

"Fine, we appreciate the help, Commodore. I'll have my Chief inform you when your shuttles can dock. Mercator out."

Sorry for the long wait! My summer job has been keeping me busy the past few months. I'm just glad to finally have this out! Akina is getting to stretch her wings and I'll be pushing us into the galaxy at large soon enough. It will take a long time to write out but I'm looking forward to it.

Quick update for those of you who came here from Ascendancy. Both me and Crab have both been listening tot he audiobook. I finished it and from what we can see it won't contradict our plans for the story any. He's been in a bit of a rut when it comes to writing but he has got a good chunk of the chapter written and I've convinced him to start a notes document to plan out for the future.

Well by the time the next chapter goes up I'll probably be back in school. So, until next time!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here is the last chapter I wrote a month or so ago. I'm going to get back into writing the next chapter when I have time. I have the outline for it and notes and notes of things I want to do. The next three chapters I already have loosely planned out in my head and some bits on paper. Hopefully, those of you reading are getting a kick out of this. So enjoy and until next time!


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